The  National  Social  Science  Series 

Edited  by  Frank  L.  McVey,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  the  University  of  North  Dakota 

Now  Ready;      Each,  Fifty  Cents  Net 

PROPERTY  AND  SOCIETY.  A.  A.  BRUCE,  Asso- 
ciate Justice  Supreme  Court,  North  Dakota,  Com- 
missioner on  Uniform  State  Laws,  etc. 

WOMEN  WORKERS  AND  SOCIETY.  ANNIE  M. 
MACLEAN,  Assistant  Professor  of  Sociology,  The 
University  of  Chicago. 

SOCIOLOGY.    JOHN  M.  GILLETTE,  Professor  of  Soci- 
ology, The  University  of  North  Dakota. 
THE  FAMILY  AND  SOCIETY.    JOHN  M.  GILLETTE, 

THE  AMERICAN  CITY.  HENRY  C  WRIGHT,  First 
Deputy  Commissioner  Department  of  Public  Chari- 
ties, New  York  City. 

GOVERNMENT  FINANCE  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  CARL  C.  PLEHN,  Professor  of  Finance, 
The  University  of  California. 

THE  COST  OF  LIVING.  WALTER  E.  CLARK,  Pro- 
fessor and  Head  of  the  Department  of  Political 
Science,  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

TRUSTS  AND  COMPETITION.  JOHN  F.  CROWELL, 
Associate  Editor  of  the  Wall  Street  Journal. 

MONEY.  WILLIAM  A.  SCOTT,  Director  of  the  Course 
in  Commerce,  and  Professor  of  Political  Economy, 
The  University  of  Wisconsin. 

BANKING.    WILLIAM  A.  SCOTT. 

TAXATION.  C.  B.  FILLEBROWN,  President  Massa- 
chusetts Single  Tax  League. 

THE  CAUSE  AND  CURE  OF  CRIME.  CHARLES  R. 
HENDERSON,  late  Professor  of  Sociology,  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago. 

THE  STATE  AND  GOVERNMENT.  JEREMIAH  S. 
YOUNG,  Professor  of  Political  Science,  The  University 
of  Minnesota. 


The  National  Social  Science  Series 


SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT.  G.  R.  DAVIES,  Assistant 
Professor  of  History  and  Sociology,  The  University 
of  North  Dakota. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CITIZENSHIP.  ARLAND  D. 
WEEKS,  Professor  of  Education,  North  Dakota  Agri- 
cultural College. 

In  Preparation 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE.  A.  B.  HALL,  Professor 
of  Political  Science,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

THE  NEWSPAPER  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACTOR. 
ALLAN  D.  ALBERT,  Former  Editor  Minneapolis  Trib- 
une, President  International  Association  of  Rotary 
Clubs. 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  LAND  IN  AMERICA. 
CHARLES  W.  HOLMAN,  Editorial  writer,  Expert  of 
United  States  Industrial  Commission,  Secretary  of 
National  Conference  on  Marketing  and  Farm  Credits. 

MODERN  PHILANTHROPY.  EUGENE  T.  LIES,  Gen- 
eral  Superintendent,  Chicago  United  Charities,  Lec- 
turer Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy,  Di- 
rector Illinois  Commission  on  Social  Legislation. 

SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  LEGISLATION.  JERE- 
MIAH S.  YOUNG. 

POPULATION.  E.  DANA  DURAND,  Former  Director 
United  States  Census,  Professor  of  Statistics,  The 
University  of  Minnesota. 

COOPERATION.  L.  D.  H.  WELD,  Professor  of  Busi- 
ness Administration,  Yale  University. 

THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACTOR. 
W.  D.  JOHNSTON,  Librarian  of  the  St.  Paul  Public 
Library,  author  of  History  of  the  Library  of  Congress. 

A.  C  McCLURG  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS,  CHICAGO 


The  Psychology  of 
Citizenship 


By 

ARLAND  D.  WEEKS 
%« 

Professor  of  Education  in  the  North  Dakota  Agricultural 
College;  author  of  "The  Education  of  Tomorrow," 
"Play  Days  On  Plum  Blossom  Creek,"  and 
"The  Avoidance  of  Fires." 


CHICAGO 
A.  C.  McCLURG  &  CO. 

1917 


Copyright 

A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co. 
1917 

Published  March,  1917 
Copyrighted  in  Great  Britain 


W.  F.  HALL  PRINTING  COMPANY,  CHICAGO 


PREFACE 

GOVERNMENT  in  this  land  of  ours  suffers 
continually  because  its  machinery  is  not 
familiar  to  the  average  citizen.  We  have  taken 
it  for  granted  that  every  resident  knows  how  his 
town  is  governed,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  is 
not  well  posted.  The  same  statement  can  be 
made  regarding  federal  and  state  government. 
Professor  Weeks  raises  some  interesting  points 
about  the  need  of  publicity  in  government.  To 
him  the  social  order  is  largely  a  product  of  sug- 
gestion, and  the  problem  of  how  to  make  the 
people  understand  good  government  is  based, 
first,  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  mind  of  the  citizen, 
and,  second,  upon  the  greatest  of  publicity  about 
government.  This  book  is  full  of  rich  suggestion 
that  ought  to  have  some  influence  in  opening  a 
new  approach  to  the  ideals  of  government. 

F.  L.  M. 


415273 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

'TVHIS  book  is  a  study  of  the  psychology  of 
JL  our  relations  to  civic  affairs  and  deals  with 
mental  traits  affecting  the  quality  of  citizenship. 
The  voter  is  a  psychological  study  in  himself, 
for  indeed  about  all  there  is  of  any  of  us,  beyond 
anatomy,  is  psychology.  In  order  to  relate  effort 
for  public  welfare  more  fully  to  laws  of  mind,  it 
is  profitable  to  view  our  mental  nature  as  it  shows 
up  against  a  background  of  civic  and  economic 
questions. 

A  series  of  articles  which  appeared  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Sociology  is  the  basis  of 
the  book,  the  material  being  abridged  and  revised 
for  the  present  volume. 

AELAND  D.  WEEKS. 
Fargo,  North  Dakota. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter  I.    Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence   .    .  ~t 

1.  Social  Problems   Complex 1 

2.  Limits  of  Eeasoning  Ability 4 

3.  Civic  Issues  Requires  Imagination       ...  6 

4.  Study  of  Civic  Problems  Necessary'  ...  8 

5.  New  Type  of  Education  for  Citizenship  .     .  10 

Chapter  H.    Social  Inertia 18 

1.  Environment  Affects  Views 18 

2.  Habit  and  Custom 20 

3.  Servile    Emotions        23 

4.  The  Law  of  Shock 28 

Chapter  III.    The  Limits  of  Attention 36 

1.  Inheritance  of  Type  of  Attention     ....  36 

2.  Need  of  Effective  Publicity 38 

Chapter  IV.    Forms  of  Distraction 42 

1.  Brain  Work  vs.  Physical  Labor 42 

2.  Energy  Given  to  Sports 45 

3.  Excess   Sex  Interests 47 

4.  Women   and  Dress     . 51 

5.  Other  Interests 52 

Chapter  V.    The  Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the 

Mind 55 

1.  Leisure  Possible 55 

2.  Machinery  May  Stimulate  Thought    ...  56 

3.  How  Machinery  Affects  Operatives     ...  59 

4.  Routine  Employments  General 66 

5.  The     Fool-Proof     Machine 69 

Chapter  VI.    The  Spirit  of  Labor 72 

1.  Recognition  of  the  Worker's  Interests    .     .  73 

2.  Motivation  in  the  Factory 75 

3.  Pleasure   in  Work 80 

4.  Fear  as  Motive 82 

5.  Self -Government  in  Industry 83 


Contents 


PAGE 

Chapter  VII.    The  Control  of  Suggestion    ...  85 

1.  Inheritance   of  Ideas 85 

2.  Influence  of  Literature 88 

3.  Advertising  Good  Examples 91 

4.  Use  of  Pictures 93 

5.  The  Slogan 96 

Chapter  Vni.    Civic  Publicity  and  the  Voter    .    .  99 

1.  Eeports  Upon  Public  Affairs 99 

2.  The  Uninformed  Voter 102 

3.  Is  an  Educational  Test  Feasible?   ....  104 

Chapter  IX.    The  Legal  Mind 109 

1.  The  Eule  of  Precedent 109 

2.  Lawyers  and  Society 112 

3.  Experimental    Legislation 116 

Chapter  X.    Views    of    Property 120 

1.  Exclusive    Ownership 120 

2.  Ownership  and  Social  Viewpoint    ....  123 

3.  Thrift 126 

4.  Great   Expectations 128 

5.  Attitude   Toward   Taxes 129 

6.  Competition  and  Character 132 

Chapter  XI.    A  Sense  of  Humanity 

1.  Instinctive  Basis  of  War 139 

2.  Desire  to  Travel 140 

3.  Better  Use  of  Fighting  Tendency    .     .     .     .143 

Index  .  .  147 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CITIZENSHIP 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF    CITIZENSHIP 
CHAPTER  I 

CIVIC    DEMANDS   UPON   INTELLIGENCE 

ONE  of  the  most  used  words  is  "problem." 
There  are  the  problems  of  city  government, 
of  taxation,  of  immigration,  of  pure  food,  of 
education,  of  the  liquor  traffic,  of  the  judiciary, 
of  direct  legislation,  and  many  others.  Modern 
civilization  presents  a  snarl  of  problems. 

1.  Social  Problems  Complex 

There  must  have  been  plenty  of  problems  of 
old,  but  people  did  not  always  define  them. 
Many  issues  have  been  hatched  by  modern  con- 
ditions, such  as  changes  in  industry  and  trans- 
portation and  growth  of  population.  Moreover, 
with  greater  general  enlightenment  society  has 
become  self-conscious,  for  intelligence  has  a 
revealing  power.  The  discovery  is  made  that 
social  relationships  are  not  all  they  should  be, 
and  reform  is  undertaken. 

Making  the  world  over  is  new  business  and 
difficult.  We  can  scarcely  say  that  people  are 
prepared  for  it,  for  a  large  part  of  the  develop- 
ment of  society  has  heretofore  been  as  free  from 
1 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


foresight  and  conscious  direction  as  has  the  evo- 
lution of  the  society  of  bees  and  beavers.  Much 
of  our  present  order  has  been  brought  about  by 
mere  force  of  circumstances,  by  an  impromptu 
unwinding  of  events  which  men  have  barely 
understood,  let  alone  directed.  There  has  been 
little  anticipation  of  social  outcomes  or  attempt 
to  substitute  planning  in  place  of  evolution. 
Society  has  arrived  at  its  present  organization 
largely  without  knowing  why  or  electing  aims; 
it  has  gone  forward  in  some  such  way  as  the  indi- 
vidual grows  up,  his  vital  processes  taking  place 
in  the  absence  of  intention  or  understanding. 

But  this  is  changing.  Society  consciously 
seeks  social  ends  as  truly  as  the  individual  seeks 
personal  ends.  Conditions  have  so  changed  that 
the  individual,  in  order  to  get  what  he  wants, 
must  combine  his  efforts  with  those  of  others. 
A  revolution  in  economic,  industrial,  and  com- 
mercial relationships  compels  the  individual  to 
make  common  cause  with  others,  leads  him  to 
look  at  life  from  a  social  viewpoint,  and  causes 
social  questions  to  demand  the  expenditure  of 
more  and  more  mental  energy. 

The  social  machine  is  complex.  Physical  force 
will  not  operate  it.  The  man  who  got  along  in 
the  twelfth  century  by  using  his  fists  now  has  to 
use  his  head.  Thought  rules,  and  it  is  only  by 
study  that  social  ideals  may  be  realized  or  that 
individuals  or  groups  may  protect  themselves  in 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence          8 

a  noiseless  warfare  in  which  the  most  dangerous 
enemies  and  devouring  opponents  may  be  as 
invisible  as  germs. 

To  accomplish  ends  through  social  machinery 
is  a  real  intellectual  feat.  Political  and  social 
science  as  a  branch  of  learning  is  not  easy  to 
grasp.  There  is  perhaps  no  kind  of  subject- 
matter  which  taxes  the  mind  more  severely.  A 
high  degree  of  culture  is  required  to  enable  one 
to  understand  the  movements  and  issues  of  the 
times.  The  intellectual  requirements  for  capable 
citizenship,  for  ideal  citizenship,  are  exacting. 

Now  the  mind  which  is  available  for  the  con- 
scious direction  of  society  was  shaped  under  a 
different  set  of  conditions  from  those  prevailing 
in  the  modern  world.  Hence  we  find  individuals 
who  would  be  highly  effective  in  a  physical  strug- 
gle or  in  contesting  with  nature  for  subsistence 
but  who  are  at  a  loss  in  an  environment  so  new 
to  the  race.  Everywhere  there  is  evidence  of  a 
bewilderment.  There  is  little  agreement  among 
specialists  in  political  science.  Social  engineer- 
ing tests  the  capabilities  of  the  human  intellect. 
A  singular  confession  of  weakness  is  that  repre- 
sented by  the  action  of  the  Senate  at  Washing- 
ton in  voting  to  reject  the  annual  contribution 
of  $250,000  from  the  Rockefeller  General 
Education  Board,  which  had  been  used  for  farm 
demonstration  work  and  the  extermination  of  the 
boll  weevil.  A  senator  declared  that  the  money 


4  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

was  covered  with  "the  blood  of  women  and 
children  shot  down  in  the  Colorado  strike."  This 
incident  brings  out  in  strong  relief  the  short- 
comings of  legislation,  for  it  should  have  been 
possible  long  ago  to  curtail  centralized  wealth 
to  which  such  abuses  are  ascribed.  Legislators 
appear  strangely  limp  in  dealing  with  conditions 
whose  evil  results  are  denounced  on  every  hand. 
Of  thirty-two  acts  of  parliament,  Herbert  Spen- 
cer found  that  twenty-nine  produced  effects  oppo- 
site from  those  intended.  The  utterly  diverse 
views  of  public  men  indicate  that  social  admin- 
istration is  a  problem  outtopping  the  average 
of  ability. 

#.  Limits  of  Reasoning  Ability 

In  the  last  analysis  the  reasoning  capacity 
of  the  individual  is  called  in  question.  Ours  is 
not  a  race  of  supermen,  and  mental  limitations 
enhance  the  difficulty  of  making  headway.  Con- 
sider the  fact  that  we  have  to  "  study  "  to  under- 
stand. If  a  novice  could  sit  down  with  Euclid 
and  in  an  evening  know  geometry !  It  takes 
weeks  and  months  of  painful  concentration  to 
master  a  branch  of  learning  represented  by  books 
which  could  be  read  through  in  a  few  days,  so 
narrow  is  the  gateway  to  understanding.  Man 
is  a  reasoning  animal,  so  it  is  said,  though  in  dis- 
cussions regarding  the  power  of  animals  to  rea- 
son some  scientists  hold  that  not  only  do  animals 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence          5 

not  reason  but  that  very  few  human  beings  rea- 
son. Men  reason  not  from  choice  but  from  neces- 
sity. Reasoning  occurs  when  a  situation  cannot 
be  successfully  dealt  with  in  some  other  way, 
as  by  imitation,  habit,  or  memory,  or  by  getting 
someone  else  to  do  it.  But  oftentimes  the  pinch 
of  a  situation,  instead  of  evoking  reasoning,  will 
call  forth  a  futile  deluge  of  emotion,  and  the 
citizen  will  —  swear.  We  hate  to  think ;  we  avoid 
it  if  possible ;  we  think  only  under  pressure,  and 
not  always  then. 

The  reasoning  faculty  in  its  fulness  develops 
late  in  the  individual,  and  on  the  other  hand  may 
disintegrate  in  the  closing  years  of  life;  it  is 
first  to  be  disturbed  by  alcohol,  sickness,  or 
fatigue.  The  freshest  hours  of  the  day  are  re- 
quired for  work  that  involves  the  nice  balance 
of  logic.  We  hesitate  to  attack  problems,  and 
gladly  defer  consideration  to  the  next  day  of 
those  matters  that  call  for  vigor  of  thought. 
Frequently  people  will  exhaust  every  means  of 
dealing  with  a  difficulty  except  that  of  reason- 
ing, and  persistently  try  to  flank  a  situation 
that  might  be  resolved  by  direct  mental  exertion. 
The  tendency  is  to  rely  upon  the  lower  mental 
processes. 

Concepts  and  principles,  with  which  reason 
deals,  are  products  for  which  the  mind  has  less 
affinity  than  for  objects.  The  vastly  greater 
appeal  of  the  objective  is  attested  by  a  thousand 


6  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

evidences.  The  concrete  is  popular,  while  the 
abstract  is  synonymous  with  dryness  and  diffi- 
culty. A  speculative  exposition  or  a  dissertation 
on  principles  repels  all  but  a  few,  while  satiating 
and  repetitious  concreteness  attracts  a  multi- 
tude. But  it  is  the  concept  and  the  principle 
that  are  of  chief  significance,  for  they  represent 
meanings.  Thinkers  are  characterized  by  grip 
of  abstractions  and  the  ability  to  pursue  a  gen- 
eralization, undisturbed  by  the  swollen  floods 
of  concreteness.  In  reasoning,  meanings  rather 
than  images  engage  consciousness  and  for  it 
Plato  held  that  but  few-  were  fitted  by  nature. 

3.  Civic  Issues  Require  Imagination 

A  good  imagination  is  the  basis  of  reasoning 
and  a  trait  of  infinite  significance  for  social 
betterment.  But  what  of  its  prevalence?  The 
mere  restoration  of  a  past  experience  is  common 
enough ;  vivid  recollection  of  something  actually 
experienced  is  indeed  characteristic  of  children, 
and  "  narrative  old  age "  employs  the  almost 
photographic  images  of  earlier  years,  but  a  con- 
structive, original,  penetrating,  and  interpreting 
turn  of  mind  is  a  different  matter.  Otherwise 
it  would  not  take  a  third  of  a  century  to  secure 
even  partial  realization  of  the  trust  issue  or  of 
the  meaning  of  watered  stock. 

Many  evidences  of  the  failure  to  see  the  sig- 
nificance of  facts  will  occur  to  one:  the  young 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence          7 

married  woman  who  laughs  at  the  spectacle  of 
a  drunken  man  on  the  street;  the  teacher  who 
uses  uncomplainingly  a  textbook  containing  a 
picture  of  a  rooster  on  a  cannon ;  the  working- 
class  mother  who  is  pleased  when  her  son  joins 
the  national  guard;  the  farmer  who  does  not 
distinguish  between  his  labor  income  and  the 
income  derived  from  his  money  investment,  who 
"  buys  a  job  ";  or  the  young  English  woman  who 
expects  to  tour  the  United  States  in  three  days, 
not  thinking  it  so  "  frightfully  large."  And 
is  it  not  usually  the  case  that  one  is  much  more 
concerned  about  the  loss  of  a  shirt  stud  than  of 
a  hundred  dollars  abstracted  from  the  family  in- 
come by  invisible  but  real  tentacles? 

The  absence  of  ideal  conditions  is  little  noted 
if  the  familiar  is  found  in  place.  If  the  man 
lower  down  had  the  gift  of  vision  would  there 
not  be  new  chapters  in  history  ?  Here  and  there 
are  those  who  image  the  advantages  of  other 
status  or  penetrate  mentally  into  the  monstrous 
mushroomism  of  privilege  or  follow  with  the 
mind's  eye  the  play  of  social  and  economic  forces, 
but  can  it  be  assumed  that  actual  realization  of 
harmful  conditions  is  at  all  usual?  Is  not  in- 
visible evil  effectually  protected  by  lack  of  vi- 
sion ?  It  is  still  vastly  more  heinous,  because  more 
objective,  to  steal  a  horse  than  to  steal  a  fran- 
chise. The  fact  that  the  mind  tends  to  adhere 
to  objects  of  direct  acquaintance,  making  a  lit- 


8  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

tie  world  out  of  the  materials  within  the  sweep 
of  the  eye  and  less  frequently  rising  to  a  stage 
from  which  the  larger  world  may  be  surveyed,  is 
fateful  with  reference  to  the  rational  ordering  of 
a  better  civilization.  Constituents  are  proudly 
triumphant  when  their  representatives  force 
through  a  bill  compelling  railroads  to  bulletin 
the  time  of  arrival  and  departure  of  trains,  but 
are  not  particularly  curious  as  to  the  relation 
of  freight  rates  to  the  cost  of  living;  women 
highly,  if  not  well,  educated  oppose  suffrage 
from  inability  to  represent  to  themselves  the 
various  situations  in  which  a  voter's  power  affects 
their  interests;  politicians  find  that  temporizing 
often  wins  over  statesmanship ;  omission  and  in- 
efficiency make  far  less  impression  than  the  un- 
important overt  act ;  a  scientific  management  and 
the  avoidance  of  waste  are  long  delayed.  Ever 
the  tangible  reality  of  the  moment  rather  than 
the  greater  reality  of  the  ideal  moves  men. 

4.  Study  of  Civic  Problems  Necessary 

Indisposition  to  think  and  the  circumscribed 
field  of  imagination  are  significant,  for  in  social 
administration  the  power  of  generalization  and 
logical  sequence  is  much  engaged.  The  usual 
sciences  are  actually  more  simple  than  the  knowl- 
edge with  which  the  voter,  ballot  in  hand,  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  acquainted,  the  science  and  philoso- 
phy of  society.  In  fact  the  belated  development 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence          9 

of  sociology  and  allied  subjects  may  be  taken  to 
mean  that  social  phenomena  are  reduced  to  sys- 
tem only  with  unusual  difficulty.  Anthropology, 
social  psychology,  civic  theory,  and  economics 
deal  with  elusive  and  thought-taxing  materials. 
Govermental  issues  cannot  be  wisely  dealt  with 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 

To  know  the  nature  of  the  task  of  imposing 
intelligence  upon  the  social  order  is  to  recog- 
nize the  need  of  I  a  more  intensive  stu^y  thah  i» 
common.  Serious  discussion,  one  subject 'by* 
this  group,  club,  or  coterie,  and  another  tbpic 
by  others,  is  neede^feabh  to  arrive  at  a  degree  of 
expertness,  each*td  contribute  to  a  common  fund 
of  thought?  The  absence  of  insistent  inquiry 
andvdiscussion  among  the  people  is  a  source  of 
political  weakness,  for  men  elected  to  office  re- 
flect the  common  attitude  and  are  circumscribed 
by  prevailing  conditions  of  insight  and  interest. 
The  average  voter  needs  to  be  convinced  that 
unless  he  studies  issues  he  will  be  unprepared  to 
deal  with  them;  he  needs  to  study  his  lesson. 
Government  is  a  matter  requiring  downright 
application  on  the  part  of  citizens.  Political./ 
questions  must  be  framed  for  discussion,  terms' 
defined,  and  time  devoted  to  the  study  of  princi- 
ples. Civic  welfare  cannot  be  achieved  with  a 
general  avoidance  of  strenuous  mental  effort, 
and  with  a  spatter  of  attention  and  a  lust  for 
amusement  to  fill  every  free  hour. 


10  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

The  faulty  management  of  public  business 
raises  a  question  in  some  minds  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  successful  collective  enterprise.  It  is 
doubted  whether  the  people  are  capable  of  sus- 
taining consciously  a  far  higher  social  organiza- 
tion. When  one  tyranny  is  overthrown,  it  is 
argued,  another  will  rise  in  its  place.  There  is 
implied  in  many  quarters  the  view  that  the 
people  collectively  are  inadequate  for  perfect 
self-government  and  for  achieving  a  genuine 
community  welfare.  "Things  will  not  be  any 
better  than  they  were  before  "  is  the  melancholy 
comment  on  programs  of  reform. 

5.  New  Type  of  Education  for  Citizenship 

The  answer  is  education,  an  education  that 
centers  on  thinking.  And  as  one  cannot  think 
unless  he  has  materials  with  which  to  think,  it 
is  important  that  there  be  provided  specific 
thought-materials  bearing  upon  the  evolution 
of  the  state.  There  is  need  of  a  subject-matter 
compounded  of  biological,  historical,  scientific, 
and  evolutionary  data  the  upshot  of  which  would 
be  a  grasp  of  underlying  social  principles.  More 
need  an  acquaintance  with  the  kind  of  material 
found,  for  example,  in  the  works  of  Spencer, 
John  Fiske,  David  Starr  Jordan,  Metchnikoff, 
Haeckel,  Karl  Marx,  Darwin,  Alfred  Russel 
Wallace,  Henry  George,  Lester  F.  Ward,  and 
Prince  Kropotkin. 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence         11 

The  culture  required  for  social  ends  receives  too 
little  attention,  owing  in  part  to  the  prevailing 
enthusiasm  for  training  for  salaried  employments. 
As  a  result  there  are  engineers  and  chemical 
experts  who  are  not  interested  in  politics.  Tech- 
nological preparation  is  often  a  mechanizing 
process  which  in  adapting  for  a  necessary  func- 
tion widely  deflects  consciousness  from  social 
issues. 

Nor  is  the  student  of  ancient  history  and 
literature,  of  the  time-honored  classics,  neces- 
sarily well  equipped  for  the  coming  nation.  He 
possesses,  indeed,  the  advantage  of  contact  with 
the  best  minds  of  the  past;  he  has  associated, 
not  with  groundlings  and  slaves,  but  with  mas- 
ters—  Caesar,  Xenophon,  Marcus  Aurelius.  A 
certain  aristocracy  of  associations  is  thus  estab- 
lished, and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
early  American  clergyman,  lawyer,  and  public 
man  approached  life  from  a  high  plane  and 
carried  a  dignity  derived  from  the  stately  and 
poised  spirit  of  classical  letters,  essays,  and 
orations. 

Horace  and  Cicero  were  good  consumers, 
and  slavishness  did  not  infect  the  underfed  and 
impecunious  student  of  early  Dartmouth  or  Am- 
herst.  Fresh  from  the  uppercaste  associations 
of  Virgil  or  Lysias,  the  early  American  college 
student  was  keyed  high  and  was  notably  rich  in 
historical  ideals,  though  perhaps  walking  the 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


streets  of  cities  in  poverty  without  the  collateral 
of  skill. 

But  the  very  fascinations  of  the  classics  lead 
to  a  certain  disqualification;  the  view  is  back- 
ward, and  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  becomes 
attached  to  a  gloried  past.  And  the  mind  nour- 
ished on  prescientific  literature  cannot  take  quick 
offense  against  pseudo-science.  Not  that  the 
Apollo  myth  or  the  prowess  of  Beowulf  are  really 
credited,  but  there  exists  a  haze  not  conducive 
to  realism.  The  classical  scholar  tends  to  be 
but  partially  scientific,  from  the  permeating  in- 
fluence of  ancient  misconceptions.  The  need  of 
instruction  actually  clarifying  mental  processes 
—  even  the  need  of  educating  the  educated  — 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  "  sucker  lists  " 
are  compiled  from  college  catalogs.1 

A  type  of  education  which  would  avoid  the 

i  The  following  clipping  from  the  Chicago  Record- 
Herald,  of  February  11,  1913,  speaks  for  itself  : 

"  SUCKERS  "  ALL  COLLEGE  MEN 

Hawthorne  Case  Witness  Tells  Where  He  Got  700,000 
Names 

NEW  YORK,  February  10  —  The  so-ealled  "  sucker 
list"  of  mining  companies  promoted  by  Julian  Haw- 
thorne, Josiah  Quincy,  Albert  Freeman,  and  Dr.  William 
J.  Morton,  who  are  on  trial  for  alleged  fraudulent  use  of 
the  mails,  was  compiled  from  400  college  catalogues  and 
contained  700,000  names. 

Freeman  so  testified  today  under  cross-examination  by 
government  counsel.  He  identified  a  check  for  $20,000.00 
as  one  of  his  own  and  said  it  was  drawn  to  cover  the 
expense  of  making  the  list  of  names  of  persons  to  whom 
literature  was  sent. 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence         13 

dubious  qualities  in  classical  subject-matter  and 
the  isolating  and  mechanizing  effects  of  occupa- 
tional instruction  is  needed.  The  ideal  society 
cannot  be  formed  of  men  whose  interests  are  no 
wider  than  money-making,  nor  of  men  whose  in- 
struction has  incorporated  into  their  outlook  a 
mythological  squint  which  exposes  them  to  the 
patent  medicine  vendor  or  causes  them  to  look 
upon  nations  as  big  personalities,  rather  than,  as 
Chancellor  Jordan  remarks,  jurisdictions.  What 
tendencies  to  exaggerate,  to  hope  unduly,  to 
misread  evidence,  to  exalt  intuition,  to  obtrude 
emotions,  to  idealize  animals,  and  to  personify 
property  or  cities  are  not  bound  up  with  an  in- 
tellectual nurture  based  on  the  age  of  fable! 
When  the  small  boy  says  that  the  luck  has  gone 
out  of  a  trinket  which  he  carries  about  with  him, 
and  when  in  a  single  day  in  Chicago  25,000 
people  gather  about  a  miraculous  shin  bone,  the 
need  of  intellectual  reorganization  is  evident. 

Clarifying  and  disillusioning  instruction  is 
needed  with  regard  to  social  organization.  Un- 
due veneration  for  constitutions  implies  a  mis- 
guided study  of  history ;  for  the  men  who  framed 
constitutions,  so  far  as  not  merely  responsive 

Testifying  as  to  the  cost  of  printing  circular  letters 
sent  out,  Freeman  said :  "I  did  not  care  how  much  I 
paid  if  the  letter  was  perfect.  But  the  trouble  was  to 
get  the  different  names  put  into  the  letters  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  those  who  received  them  think  they  were 
personal  letters  from  Hawthorne  and  not  mere  circulars. 
I  sent  out  fully  700,000  of  those  letters. ' ' 


14  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

to  special  interests,  were  attempting  no  more  than 
the  people  of  today  attempt  in  dealing  to  the 
best  of  ability  with  the  problems  of  the  hour, 
and  that  any  particular  authority  attended  the 
deliberations  of  early  publicists,  in  excess  of  that 
attributable  to  the  latest  session  of  a  legislature, 
is  no  more  credible  than  that  the  impressions 
of  today  should  be  imposed  on  the  public  of  a 
century  hence. 

The  educational  system  suffers  an  underdevel- 
opment,  for  it  is  responsive  rather  than  dominat- 
ing. Institutions  of  learning  tend  to  conform 
rather  than  to  form,  and  the  seal  of  approval 
is  placed  on  unregenerate  ambitions  and  the  ethics 
of  disorderly  competition.  Young  men  who 
should  be  in  a  spiritual  kindergarten,  whose  con- 
versations are  crude  and  gossipy,  and  whose 
reactions  to  quality  are  wonderingly  skeptical, 
are  released  at  graduation  certificated  if  not  re- 
fined. The  vices  of  the  street  —  "  clamorous,  in- 
sincere advertisement,  push,  and  adulteration " 
—  may  possess  the  graduate  as  well  as  the  entrant, 
and  the  aim  of  a  department  may  be  colored 
to  the  purpose  of  the  crafty  student  who  would 
equip  himself  to  make  "  a  heap  of  money  "  by 
overcapitalizing  electric-lighting  plants  in  small 
towns  which  should  be  taught  how  to  manage 
their  own  public  utilities. 

Within  the  total  body  of  knowledge  there 
exists  an  enormous  quantity  of  material  which  is 


C'vvic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence        15 

inert  or  irrelevant.  It  is  a  serious  dissipation 
of  energy  that  youth  should  devote  years  to  a 
relatively  inconsequential  learning.  The  good 
general  repute  of  knowledge  has  thrown  the 
mantle  of  approval  over  types  of  learning  which, 
considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  dynamic 
society,  represent  a  deadening  load  upon  the 
factors  making  for  progress.  Often  one  hears  it 
said  that  a  given  person  or  a  certain  class  is 
"  well  educated,"  there  being  no  distinction  made 
between  highly  educated  and  well  educated; 
whereas  there  is  all  the  difference  in  the  world 
between  the  two  conditions.  Many  great  scholars 
have  been  very  highly,  and  at  the  same  time 
very  poorly,  educated,  when  regard  is  had  to 
mental  content.  Certainly  no  very  extensive  im- 
provement in  brain  capacity  has  occurred  since 
the  Middle  Ages  or  the  days  of  Diocletian,  and 
whatever  of  human  weal  has  been  achieved  for  the 
present  as  against  former  periods  is  to  be  referred 
to  mental  content  rather  than  to  increase  of  brain 
cells  and  spread  of  cortex.  Too  much  emphasis 
can  hardly  be  placed  upon  the  actual  character 
of  the  information  which  society  permits  to  cir- 
culate or  deliberately  diffuses  through  agencies 
under  state  control.  The  substitution  of  valid) 
materials  for  those  not  meeting  the  most  search- 
ing tests  of  value  must  occupy  the  foreground 
of  effort  for  social  betterment. 

If  there  is  a  wide  range  of  values  in  real  knowl- 


16  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

edge,  how  significant  becomes  the  toleration  of 
pseudo-science.  Error  obtains  widely,  and  in- 
deed a  certain  conventional  respectability  at- 
taches to  quantities  of  traditional  material  which 
any  scientist  knows  could  not  bear  scrutiny.  Much 
of  this  is  so  knit  up  with  emotion  that  scholars 
plow  around  it  rather  than  risk  the  consequences 
which  a  too  fearless  opposition  would  entail. 
Hence  it  is  that  verified  knowledge  and  pseudo- 
science  may  achieve  a  considerable  circulation 
in  the  same  community,  the  one  to  a  degree  un- 
doing the  work  of  the  other,  but  with  no  joining 
of  issue  and  thorough  enlightenment.  There  is 
an  immense  circulation  of  worthless  reading  mat- 
ter, ranging  from  dream-books  and  drugstore 
almanacs  to  pulpy  fiction.  The  church  would  do 
well  to  inspect  closely  the  materials  which  are 
placed  before  millions,  often  as  their  almost  sole 
mental  food,  and  should  not  be  unaware  of  the 
possibility  of  benumbing  intelligence  by  forever 
dealing  with  points  of  doctrine  or  the  minutiae 
of  Jewish  history.  One  may  listen  attentively 
yet  unprofitably. 

The  practice  of  systematically  misinforming 
children  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned. 
Parents  allow  their  children  to  be  taught  matter 
known  to  be  misleading.  The  presentation  of 
myths  and  attractive  falsifications  befogs  the 
child's  mind  and  contributes  to  the  permanence 
of  a  public  expecting  to  meet  with  the  fountain 


Civic  Demands  Upon  Intelligence        17 

of  youth  in  the  decoction  sold  for  "a  dollar  a 
bottle."  The  strange  case  of  mythology  and 
actual  science  in  the  same  mind  may  be  due  to  the 
duplicity  of  the  make-believe  literature  on  which 
children  are  nourished  far  into  the  age  of  rea- 
soning. 

A  great  gain  will  have  been  made  when  there 
is  a  more  general  realization  of  the  importance 
of  building  up  an  effective  civic  mind.  The 
social  outcomes  of  various  types  of  cultural  ma- 
terial and  of  training  deserve  consideration. 
Especially  is  it  important  that  there  should  be 
convictions  regarding  the  scientific  character  of 
social  questions.  A  function  logically  requiring 
the  highest  devotion  and  insight  —  government 
—  is  too  often  given  over  to  men  who  are  not 
grounded  in  appropriate  learning,  and  the  citizen 
himself  too  often  lightly  dismisses  civic  obliga- 
tions which  should  set  him  to  burning  midnight 
oil. 


CHAPTER  II 

SOCIAL    INERTIA 

"PROGRESSIVE  movements  are  held  severely 
JL  in  check  by  habits  and  customs.  As  one 
grows  older  he  becomes,  unless  under  unusual 
conditions,  firmly  set  in  feelings  and  views. 
Habits  tend  to  grow  into  the  very  constitution, 
and  represent  a  force  whose  power  is  experienced 
whenever  a  new  idea  is  introduced  in  the  world. 
Repetition  of  movements  and  of  thoughts  results 
in  fixed  arrangements  of  the  brain  cells.  The 
grooves  of  thought  become  deeply  worn,  and  the 
mind  comes  at  last  to  resemble  in  definiteness  of 
character  and  permanence  of  structure  the  physi- 
cal body  which  supports  it.  It  is  the  exceptional 
person  who  keeps  green  at  the  top,  and  who 
remains  in  sympathy  with  dynamic  phases  of 
society. 

1.  Environment  Affects  Views 

The  paths  of  thought  are  greatly  influenced 
by  one's  surroundings.  Not  without  cause  do 
we  wish  to  know  where  the  individual  came  from, 
who  his  parents  were,  where  he  went  to  school, 
and  what  his  occupation  is,  and  our  curiosity  ex- 
18 


Social  Inertia  19 


tends  to  his  wife  and  children.  The  ethical 
atmosphere  which  one  has  known,  combining 
elements  from  many  sources,  essentially  deter- 
mines interests,  outlook,  and  opinions.  The  indi- 
vidual is  to  a  great  extent  a  composite  of  the 
ideas  which  environment  has  forced  upon  his 
attention.  Differences  in  native  ability  are  ap- 
parently less  determinative  than  those  resulting 
from  the  complex  of  suggestions  associated  with 
one's  place  of  residence,  acquaintanceship,  and 
social  contacts.  The  to  us  strangely  inverted 
views  and  practices  of  alien  peoples,  ancient  or 
modern,  are  none  other  than  we  ourselves,  trans- 
ferred to  other  environment,  would  have  ap- 
proved. The  culture  materials  of  the  Kentucky 
mountains  and  those  of  a  northern  city  are  re- 
spectively instrumental  in  creating  most  diverse 
types.  One  cannot  escape  the  pressure  of  envi- 
ronment. Even  the  greatest  minds  are  a  reflex 
of  their  age,  sharing  in  contemporary  attitudes 
and  errors:  Pascal  believed  in  French  miracles 
and  Sir  Matthew  Hale  in  witches. 

Especially  do  first  impressions  last.  The  im- 
portance of  a  fifty-cent  jackknife  to  a  boy  sinks 
deep  into  the  emotional  nature,  and  men  of 
means  will  flinch  at  the  expense  of  a  new  pocket- 
knife  in  unconscious  revival  of  emotions  of  child- 
hood. Stamped  with  the  forms  of  religion, 
language,  or  manners,  as  a  child,  one  can  jiever 
be  fully  freed  from  either  their  good  or  bad 


£0  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

features.  The  Negro  who  was  invited  to  sit  with 
his  white  employer  at  a  dinner  in  the  South, 
but  at  the  table  trembled  with  fear,  gave  evidence 
that  legal  emancipation  did  not  carry  with  it 
emancipation  from  the  psychology  of  slavery. 
Pronounced  radicals  exhibit  on  occasion  the  awe 
which  undemocratic  centuries  have  bred  into  the 
emotional  life.  One  brought  up  to  refrain  from 
gladness  on  Sunday  may  convince  himself  of  the 
acceptability  of  tennis  on  that  day,  but  may 
experience  difficulty  in  bringing  his  feelings  into 
accord.  Not  readily  do  sentiments  and  preju- 
dices, reverences  and  submissions  disappear.  How 
rare  it  is  for  a  community  to  change  its  feelings 
to  correspond  with  the  development  of  one  of 
its  gifted  sons  or  daughters;  hence  a  prophet 
is  given  scant  honor  at  home.  For  which  reason 
discerning  youths  go  to  new  parts  where  there 
is  exemption  from  the  levity  of  reminiscence. 

2.  Habit  and  Custom 

The  persistence  of  habit  and  the  inertia  of 
custom  are  everywhere  to  be  discerned.  Sudden 
transformations  are  rare.  Though  terms  change, 
realities  abide,  as  witness  pagan  gods  succeeded 
by  saints  as  numerous,  feudalism  transferred  to 
industry,  and  the  fetishism  of  the  elk  tooth. 
Writing  of  the  Incas,  James  Bryce  notes  that 
the  Spaniards  abolished  human  sacrifices  —  and 
burned  heretics. 


"Social  Inertia 


Without  special  efforts  to  change  habits,  or 
the  supplying  of  conditions  which  enforce  new 
ways,  the  probability  of  considerable  changes  in 
social  orderings  is  slight.  People  will  go  on  in 
the  same  old  ways,  and  it  is  the  next  generation 
that  is  the  principal  hope  of  those  who  strive 
for  change.  Laws  influence  society  but  slowly; 
they  are  rather  the  reflex  of  states  of  mind  than 
actually  agencies  of  social  transformation,  and 
it  is  to  educative  factors  that  attention  should 
especially  be  given  in  reform.  A  weakness  of 
the  older  socialism  was  its  disregard  of  the  per- 
sistence of  habit,  showing  in  the  ten  thousand  en- 
meshing sentiments  of  the  static  multitude. 
Writers  still  imply  the  possibility  of  a  sudden 
redirection  suggestive  of  the  "conversion"  of 
the  religious  revival,  which  itself  is  far  from 
being  a  comprehensive  change.  Inertia  is  an 
outstanding  trait  of  primitive  peoples,  whose 
characteristics  obtain  in  no  small  portion  of 
modern  society,  and  a  trait,  as  well,  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  individuals  more  advanced. 

The  threat  of  revolution  can  never  be  more 
than  partly  executed,  for  in  the  greater  number 
of  relations  the  individual  will  continue  to  be 
as  he  was  before.  Those  who  have  been  servile 
will  continue  to  be  servile.  Under  the  older 
system  of  family  discipline  the  youth  looked  for- 
ward to  becoming  of  age,  only  to  find  when  he 
arrived  at  that  time  that  both  docility  and  au- 


22  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

thority  persisted.  In  fact,  the  only  social  revo- 
lution which  seems  possible  in  view  of  the  tenacity 
of  habit  is  one  which  slowly  proceeds  under  the 
pressure  of  conditions  and  is  directed  by  strong 
leadership.  There  was  never  yet  a  revolution 
or  emancipation  which  was  true  to  the  full  vigor 
of  the  term.  For  sharp  social  advances,  shock 
and  surprise  and  the  dislocation  of  environment 
are  required.  If  psychology  has  a  message  for 
progress  it  is  that  efforts  must  be  focused  upon 
the  disorganization  of  old  and,  in  turn,  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  habits. 

Actual  contentment  under  unfair  conditions 
may  exist  through  the  spell  of  environment.  One 
becomes  so  used  to  things  as  they  are  that  the 
prospect  of  change  is  unpleasant.  The  farmer's 
mortgage  becomes  part  of  his  cosmos.  Conditions 
which  would  appear  most  singular  from  a  fresh 
point  of  view  come  under  the  principle  of  habitu- 
ation  and  scarcely  attract  attention.  Improve- 
ment means  change  and  confusion,  the  rupture 
of  accustomed  ways  and  adjustment  to  a  new 
order,  and  it  is  bewildering  to  face  new  condi- 
tions, even  if  theoretically  better;  hence  the  in- 
evitable reaction  which  follows  a  mood  of  reform 
and  the  slight  immediate  response  made  by  the 
mass  of  mankind  to  idealistic  appeals.  Privi- 
lege and  exploitation,  parasitism  and  humbug, 
are  relatively  safe  when  rooted  in  the  old  order. 
To  look  at  such  in  a  new  light  would  be  their 


'Social  Inertia 


extermination,  but  it  is  not  usual  to  look  at  things 
in  a  new  light. 

3.  Servile  Emotions 

A  popular  weakness  is  susceptibility  to  un- 
democratic emotional  attitudes.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  one's  reason  and  emotions  may 
not  agree  perfectly,  and  that  feelings  are  likely 
to  be  the  deciding  factor.  Our  feelings  have 
been  gathering  force  since  early  childhood,  while 
our  arguments  may  be  of  recent  acquisition.  A 
substantial  fund  of  emotion  comes  down  to  us 
by  tradition  from  far  absolutist  regimes ;  we  are 
early  infiltrated  with  archaic  sentiments  from  a 
thousand  points  of  cultural  contact.  As  a  result 
democratic  attitudes  are  less  prevalent  than  demo- 
cratic opinions. 

"  And  your  petitioners  will  forever  pray  .  .  .  ." 
these  words  appearing  at  the  close  of  a  legal 
paper  are  redolent  of  history.  While  phrases  of 
courtesy  have  a  place  not  to  be  lightly  surren- 
dered, this  form  points  to  a  former  social  order 
in  which  power  did  not  flow  from  the  people  to 
officials  but  on  the  contrary  favors  were  from  the 
rulers  "vouchsafed  unto  us."  The  awe  which 
does  liedge  about  "his  honor"  is  perhaps  not 
so  much  an  expression  of  respect  for  the  law  — 
for  laws  are  abstractions  —  nor  deference  to 
one's  self,  the  voter  who  elects  judges  and  builds 
courthouses,  but  more  likely  a  mood  which  comes 


24  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

to  us  by  relayed  example  from  the  days  when 
civic  humility  worshiped  at  the  feet  of  kings. 
We  believe  that  our  officials  derive  their  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed  —  help  thou 
our  unbelief!  For  while  we  believe  we  may  yet 
feel  otherwise.  One  dictates  to  a  stenographer 
a  letter  to  his  servant,  the  congressman,  and  finds 
that  the  dictated  formal  close,  "Yours  very 
truly,"  has  come  under  the  pervasive  influence 
of  inherited  deference  to  office  and  reads  instead 
"  Very  respectfully,"  which  is  indeed  better  than 
"Your  obedient  servant."  Of  course  it  is  the 
congressman  who  should  address  the  voter,  by 
whose  consent  he  exists,  with  the  prostration  of 
phrase  which  creeps  into  the  voter's  letter  to  him. 
Men  of  toil  come  upon  the  campus  of  a  state 
university,  their  institution  by  right  of  taxes, 
hat  in  hand,  instead  of  in  the  consciousness  of 
owning  the  place.  Truly,  for  lack  of  what  meat 
does  the  citizen  remain  so  small ! 

The  timidity  of  the  public  in  pressing  claims 
against  corporations  seems  to  be  founded  on  tra- 
ditions of  servility.  It  seems  almost  like  inter- 
fering with  the  course  of  the  planets  to  compel 
a  railroad  company  to  stop  a  long  train  at  a  mere 
county  seat,  and  when  a  citizen  tells  the  presi- 
dent of  the  road  a  few  human  facts  staid  residents 
get  their  heads  together  in  a  certain  consterna- 
tion. Walt  Whitman  in  a  memorable  poem  justi- 
fies man  to  the  bigness  of  material  things,  like 


Social  Inertia 


great  machinery  and  buildings,  trampling  them 
under  foot  of  a  forced  accession  of  self-respect. 
But  it  requires  no  little  temerity  to  lay  the  ghost 
of  mere  bigness,  and  the  lowly  spirit  of  the 
peasant  uncovered  before  authority  still  lives  to 
a  degree. 

Yet  men  desire  to  be  as  good  as  other  men  — 
or  a  little  better  —  and  if  defeated  and  humbled 
by  others'  huge  success,  resort  may  be  had  to  the 
theory  of  compensation.  So-and-so  is  rich,  but 
his  home  is  childless ;  he  visits  Europe,  but  he  has 
arteriosclerosis ;  he  has  a  beautiful  residence,  but 
he  is  not  happy.  Social  evolution  would  move 
more  swiftly  if  once  for  all  the  supposed  com- 
pensations of  misfortune  were  subjected  to  actual 
observation,  and  the  fact  frankly  recognized  that 
some  conditions  of  life  are  better,  immeasurably 
better,  than  others.  A  fatalistic  doctrine  of  com- 
pensation disposes  one  to  bear  those  ills  which 
under  a  different  philosophy  he  would  flee  or 
fight.  When  one  secures  a  benefit  he  does  not 
thereby  release  the  lever  of  a  correlated  misfor- 
tune. 

Possibly  the  conventional  doctrine  of  com- 
pensation is  related  to  limitations  of  experience. 
Habituated  to  salt  and  potatoes,  the  individual 
denies  the  advantage  of  mutton  chops.  The  bene- 
fits of  travel  come  to  be  seen  obliquely,  because 
travel  cannot  be  afforded.  The  grin-and-bear-it 
attitude  becomes  confirmed  into  a  religious  devo- 


26  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

tion  to  hardship.  Misfortunes  thus  undergo  an 
apotheosis  into  blessings,  and  happiness  is  ex- 
pected not  to  last;  there  are  "terrors  of  cloud- 
less noon."  Moreover,  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind have  had  meager  experience  as  consumers, 
and  therefore  the  upper  ranges  of  life  are  seen 
in  false  perspective,  which  fact  gives  color  to 
compensation.  The  development  of  suitable 
wants  throughout  populations  is  accordingly  pre- 
liminary to  democracy.  In  fact,  not  until  mere 
maintenance  ceases  to  absorb  the  major  portion 
of  one's  efforts  may  the  possibilities  of  human 
nature  be  realized.  At  the  very  basis  of  social 
inequality  is  an  ancient  cringing  spirit  and  a 
time-honored  glorification  of  suffering. 

A  vast  kingdom  of  inherited  fears  and  defer- 
ences, of  shadowy  evasiveness  yet  substantial 
reality,  prevails,  especially  in  older  societies.  The 
error  of  not  "knowing  one's  place"  thus  be- 
comes obnoxious,  and  the  particular  merit  of  the 
great  English  public  schools,  regarded  from  the 
aristocratic  point  of  view,  has  been  that  through 
"  fagging  "  the  boy  was  taught  to  know  his  place, 
a  subtle  social  system  of  distinctions  thus  being 
fortified  by  training.  The  shocking  nakedness 
of  communication  in  the  western  states  implies 
by  contrast  the  traditional  deference  which  exists 
in  older  communities  for  academic,  political,  or 
economic  status.  Prevailing  sentiments  of  defer- 
ence are  very  often  inappropriate,  and  a  rational 


Social  Inertia  27 


skepticism  of  conventional  attitudes  is  warranted. 
Lack  of  intelligent  unrest  and  challenge  lies  at 
the  basis  of  backward  conditions.  As  one  meas- 
ures himself  so  is  it  meted  out  to  him.  Develop-j 
ment  toward  democracy  requires  a  stimulation  of 
personality  and  the  charging  of  individuals  with 
ideals  of  larger  attainments.  To  preserve  fairly 
even  conditions  in  a  population  requires  watch- 
fulness against  an  invidious  conventionality. 

Oftentimes  conventional  attitudes  are  singu- 
larly at  war  with  what  facts  warrant.  Consider 
the  social  prejudice  against  basic  productional 
occupations.  The  honor  accorded  arms  is  some- 
thing of  an  anachronism  when  the  world  is  held 
back  from  peace  only  by  false  ideals.  The  most 
toilsome  and  necessary  labor  is  not  recognized 
as  meriting  special  approbation,  while  preda- 
ceous  wealth  is  never  without  distinction.  All 
degrees  of  respectability  prevail  in  modern  em- 
ployments, to  a  large  extent  based  upon  inap- 
propriate considerations.  All  necessary  forms 
of  work  should  be  held  alike  worthy,  and 
the  performance  of  disagreeable  and  dangerous 
tasks  deserves  special  commendation. 

Traditional  conceptions  as  to  who  deserve 
credit  for  wealth  production,  coupled  with  a 
certain  obtuseness  with  reference  to  the  fact  that 
society  overtly  or  tacitly  fixes  incomes,  give  rise 
to  astounding  overpayment  and  underpayment, 
to  a  most  unscientific  scale  of  remuneration.  A 


£8  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

degree  of  imagination  is  required  to  see  things 
in  their  true  light,  in  default  of  which  nothing 
appears  surprising.  Social  conditions  are  so 
largely  a  reflex  of  prevailing  states  of  conscious- 
ness that  to  change  conditions  is  first  to  change 
minds.  The  cherishing  of  economic  tradition 
by  those  who  would  most  profit  by  a  new  outlook, 
the  possession  of  the  "  capitalist  mind "  by  the 
expropriated,  is  a  singular  obstruction,  only  to 
be  accounted  for  by  the  static  condition  of  intel- 
ligence which  prevails  when  not  guarded  against 
the  domination  of  custom  and  an  excess  of  habit. 

4.  The  Law  of  Shock 

A  consideration  of  the  force  of  environment 
gives  a  clue  to  the  extreme  significance  of  new 
surroundings ;  change  of  environment  provides  a 
multitude  of  suggestions  resulting  in  new  meth- 
ods and  ideals,  but  is  especially  important  in 
compelling,  through  the  rupture  of  habit,  the 
reasoning  reaction.  Men's  minds  tend  to  con- 
form to  their  immediate  surroundings  as  truly 
as  the  color  of  the  fur  of  a  prairie  dog  to  the 
dun  expanse  of  its  semiarid  habitat ;  there  is  thus 
an  underlying  quality  in  the  intellectual  pro- 
cesses which  relates  homo  sapiens  to  the  birds  in 
the  tree  and  the  imitatively  colored  larvae  which 
coat  its  leaves.  As  the  inherited  powers  and 
instincts  of  man  are  in  a  large  way  the  reflex  of 
the  requirements  made  upon  him  through  un- 


Social  Inertia 


measured  prehistoric  time,  so  the  thought  of  the 
individual  of  today  is  in  direct  response  to  the 
features  of  his  environment.  If  environment  is 
easy,  little  mental  effort  will  be  exerted,  but  if 
the  individual  is  placed  under  exacting  condi- 
tions whose  demands  cannot  be  met  by  memory, 
habit,  or  impulse,  then  activity  is  forced  upon 
the  reasoning  powers. 

To  supply  the  conditions  which  compel  devel- 
opment new  environment  is  effective.  One  is 
rarely  acquainted  with  his  own  capabilities  until 
he  is  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  through 
some  dislocation  of  his  habitual  setting.  We  are 
full  of  surprises  to  ourselves,  the  tug  of  effort 
to  effect  a  new  adjustment  being  the  prerequisite 
of  disclosure.  One  may  believe  that  he  is  making 
the  most  of  himself  in  a  given  place  in  the  world, 
but  upon  being  subjected  to  fresh  demands  he 
may  feel  with  the  character  in  Mark  Twain's 
A  Double-Barreled  Detective  Story:  "Duffers 
like  us  don't  know  what  real  thought  is."  To 
suitably  precipitate  upon  one  thought-provoking 
requirements,  the  importing  of  new  elements 
into  one's  daily  order,  or  the  bodily  transference 
of  the  individual  to  different  surroundings,  is 
necessary. 

Evidence  of  the  part  played  by  change  of 
surroundings  in  stimulating  intelligence  may  be 
gathered  from  various  historical  occurrences. 
The  England  of  Shakespeare  was  convulsed  with 


30  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

the  realization  of  a  new  world  —  imagine  what 
would  be  our  reaction  if  communication  were 
established  with  a  race  on  another  planet !  Under 
the  law  of  shock  new  intellectual  manifestations 
appeared  in  the  Age  of  Elizabeth,  of  which  an 
invigorated  drama  and  an  unwonted  buoyancy 
of  phrase  were  a  normal  expression.  Unfortu- 
nate the  age  that  has  no  new  worlds  to  discover 
or  no  thrilling  vision  to  provoke  the  creative 
spirit. 

The  shock  of  the  frontier  resulted,  in  the  case 
of  the  American  people,  in  a  remarkable  burst 
of  initiative,  resourcefulness,  and  idealism.  The 
patent  office  at  Washington,  which  bears  witness 
to  an  inventiveness  unique  in  the  history  of  the 
race,  is  evidence  of  the  stimulating  effects  of  a 
new  environment.  In  New  Zealand,  likewise, 
where  within  memory  the  cannibal  Maori  feasted 
on  "  long  pig,"  the  response  to  new  demands  is 
to  be  read  in  laws  which  are  wisely  imitated  in 
older  countries. 

It  is  ever  the  emergency-meeting  race  or  indi- 
vidual that  generates  progress ;  static  conditions 
tend  to  reduce  mankind  to  a  set  of  fixed  reactions, 
whose  insidious  approach  may  be  noted  in  the 
unprogressiveness  of  old  communities  where  the 
leading  citizens  have  hung  their  hats  on  the  same 
hooks  for  forty  years.  Likewise  in  the  iron 
environment  of  cities,  where,  especially  among 
clerical  and  commercial  employees,  may  be  found 


Social  Inertia  31 


signal  provincialism,  there  is  ample  illustration 
of  the  dangers  of  routine.  To  one  who  has  not 
the  means  to  travel,  to  occupy  the  same  house 
or  apartment  for  a  long  time  is  unfortunate,  and 
occupations  which  have  a  migratory  character 
contribute  in  no  small  way  to  the  yeast  of  civili- 
zation. The  automatism  of  fixed  conditions  and 
the  approach  to  a  moribund  zone  were  unwit- 
tingly illustrated  in  the  reply  of  a  denizen  of  a 
torpid  village  when  asked  if  he  expected  to  be 
buried  in  the  local  cemetery ;  he  replied,  "  Yes, 
if  I  live  " !  The  tendrils  of  sentiment  twine  more 
closely  indeed  about  the  familiar,  and  there  is  a 
tragic  note  in  the  snapping  of  ties,  but  the  law 
of  human  evolution  reads  that  only  by  the  advent 
of  the  strange  may  welfare  be  won,  and  the  pains 
of  readjustment  are  less  to  be  feared  than  the 
corruption  of  habit.  Any  Utopia  which  left  no 
channels  free  for  the  forces  which  break  habit 
and  thrust  upon  society  the  urgent  need  of  solv- 
ing new  problems  would,  after  the  first  fruits  of 
system  were  garnered,  tend  toward  stagnation. 
With  the  passing  of  frontiers  and  the  rapid 
filling  in  of  the  inhabitable  empty  areas  of  the 
earth,  with  the  question  of  habitability  still  pend- 
ing as  regards  the  enormous  and  fertile  selvas 
of  Brazil,  and  parts  of  Africa,  the  problem  of 
environment  takes  the  form  of  other  means  to 
insure  the  individual  such  thought-taxing  situa- 
tions as  will  result  in  progressive  mentality.  In 


32  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

some  phases  of  modern  life  there  seems  to  be  a 
letting  down  of  insistent  requirements.  It  should 
not  be  necessary  to  return  to  the  primitive  in 
order  to  stimulate  initiative  and  circumspection. 
It  should  be  permissible  to  turn  a  tap  rather  than 
wade  through  snow  to  a  pump  for  water,  but 
unless  there  be  requirements  which  fairly  equate 
with  the  pricking  rigors  of  a  less  conventional- 
ized life  we  need  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  results  — 
degeneracy  will  appear. 

Notwithstanding  the  complexity  of  life  today 
it  is  doubtful  if  it  represents,  so  far  as  the  sep- 
arate individual  is  concerned,  the  complexity  of 
demand  of  earlier  conditions.  The  total  social 
mass  is  complex,  but  the  individual  may  —  in- 
deed, typically  does  —  find  that  his  daily  require- 
ments, especially  in  urban  employments,  entail 
but  slight  resort  to  constructive  ideas.  "  All  you 
have  to  do "  in  many  positions  consists  of  a 
narrow  range  of  mechanized  tasks  apportioned 
under  a  business  system  which  makes  independ- 
ence impertinent.  vThe  great  mass  of  employees 
today  are  following  orders,  with  not  enough 
participation  in  the  problems  of  the  occupation 
to  provoke  thoughtij  It  is  a  misfortune  to  be 
connected  with  an  enterprise  where  the  individual 
is  not  weighted  with  all  the  perplexities  necessary 
to  tax  the  association  centers  of  his  cerebrum.  A 
single  day  of  camping  out  will  perhaps  raise  more 
problems  than  months  of  routine  occupation. 


Social  Inertia  33 


In  individual  cases  the  transforming  effects 
of  a  change  of  place  or  occupation  are  often 
to  be  observed.  An  elderly  east  Tennessee  farmer 
moves  his  family  to  western  Washington  and 
takes  up  a  different  type  of  agriculture,  with 
the  result  that  by  a  decade  later  he  has  "  renewed 
his  youth,"  gained  an  evident  adaptability,  and 
multiplied  his  interests.  The  arrival  of  the  first 
baby  of  middle-aged  parents  results  in  a  rejuve- 
nation and  development  directly  traceable  to 
dealing  with  the  enigmatical  creature.  If  the 
Supreme  Court  were  never  to  hold  two  sessions 
in  the  same  room,  a  more  modern  atmosphere 
would  no  doubt  attach  to  its  deliberations.  Even 
a  change  of  clothes  has  its  developmental  aspects. 

The  misfortune  of  failing  of  a  shift  in  asso- 
ciations is  to  be  noted  in  the  cosmic  quality  of 
views  and  feelings  characteristic  of  classes  that 
but  slightly  change  environment,  being  rooted 
to  place,  as  in  the  case,  historically,  of  the  peas- 
ants of  the  Old  World.  In  the  recent  revolution 
in  Portugal,  from  which  ancient  kingdom  the 
late  monarch  left  "  without  leaving  his  address," 
it  was  the  agricultural  classes  that  opposed  the 
change.  And  indeed  in  America,  among  the 
stationary  farming  class,  there  has  been  at  times 
the  political  apathy  which  is  likely  to  appear 
wherever  movement  and  new  surroundings  are 
least  experienced. 

The  equivalent  of  the  stimulating  effects  of 


34  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

new  scenes  may  largely  be  duplicated  by  import- 
ing into  one's  usual  environment  new  elements. 
The  progress  of  recent  years  has  coincided  with 
the  growth  of  reading  habits  and  the  break-up  of 
static  local  conditions;  at  first,  to  considerable 
degree,  by  the  advent  of  the  bicycle,  and  later 
by  the  trolley,  rural  free  delivery  of  mail,  and 
the  automobile.  A  steady  influence  making  for 
adaptability  is  represented  in  the  social  center  in 
both  city  and  country,  where  an  exchange  of 
ideas  results  in  the  formation  of  fresh  opinions. 
Education,  reading,  conversation,  the  theater, 
marriage,  and  sickness  are  meaningful  variations 
of  environment. 

But  especially  among  the  agencies  to  which 
we  must  look  for  establishing  adaptability  and 
resourcefulness  are  those  which  bring  about 
change  of  residence.  Travel  has  an  important 
function  to  this  end.  The  traveled  person  is  tol- 
erant. Race  hatred  grew  up  in  the  days  of  the 
pack  mule  and  the  ox  cart  and  of  the  water-tight 
compartments  of  mountainous  regions  where 
every  peak  meant  a  different  language.  An 
American  public  man,  it  is  said,  once  begged 
that  he  be  not  introduced  to  an  enemy,  for  he 
said  he  could  not  hate  anybody  with  whom  he 
became  acquainted.  The  flood  of  ideas  which  is 
brought  against  preconceptions  through  travel 
represents  a  thought-compelling  situation  of  the 
greatest  significance.  The  acceleration  of  prog- 


Social  Inertia 


ress  which  this  age  witnesses  is  in  no  small  degree 
the  outcome  of  the  fact  that  of  late,  for  the  first 
time  since  history  dawned,  men  have  been  able 
freely  to  visit  new  scenes  and  far  countries.  Indi- 
vidual travel  should  by  all  means  be  made  uni- 
versally possible  through  the  widest  opening  of 
the  gates  of  transportation. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    LIMITS    OF    ATTENTION 

PSYCHOLOGISTS  have  demonstrated  the 
•••  fact,  which  anyone  may  verify,  that  atten- 
tion may  be  focused  upon  a  given  point  for  but 
a  few  seconds.  Let  the  mind  be  directed  to  a 
given  object,  and  it  is  found  that  actual  atten- 
tion plays  over  a  multitude  of  minor  aspects  or 
darts  away  to  remote  considerations,  to  return 
perhaps  in  a  twinkling;  but  at  no  time  does 
attention  really  stick  to  a  given  phase  of  the 
object  for  more  than  a  few  seconds.  When  we 
say  that  we  give  perfect  attention  for  an  hour, 
it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  our  attention  has 
been  unvarying,  but  it  is  rather  the  case  that 
our  thoughts  have  been  directed  to  one  large 
subject  with  its  associated  details. 

1.  Inheritance  of  Type  of  Attention 

Why  we  possess  a  nerve  apparatus  which  func- 
tions in  this  type  of  attention  is  evident  upon  a 
moment's  consideration.  In  the  ceaseless  war  of 
the  lower  world  the  animal  that  was  not  alert  to 
every  significant  stimulus  was  likely  to  lose  its 
life.  The  eye  became  trained  to  flit  to  every 
point  from  which  danger  might  arise,  and  the 


The  Limits  of  Attention  37 

mind  followed  the  eye.  Attention  is  a  mental 
trait  whose  character  is  derived  from  the  nature 
of  the  surroundings  which  have  pressed  upon 
the  organism  during  the  clockless  depths  of  time. 
Every  quivering  leaf  in  heated  jungles  now  con- 
verted into  coal,  every  prowling  beast  stirring 
the  reeds,  every  dancing  gnat,  every  rush  of 
wings  tended  to  break  into  bits  the  consciousness 
of  our  prehuman  forbears,  and  through  inher- 
itance to  give  the  average  mind  a  power  of 
attention  somewhere  between  the  inconsequential 
zigzag  of  the  phrase  talker  and  the  philosopher's 
stuck-fast  consciousness,  miscalled  absent-mind- 
edness, but  on  the  whole  a  distinctly  unstable  type 
of  attention. 

Now  the  fact  that  the  power  of  human  atten- 
tion, even  in  its  highest  development,  is  selective, 
partial,  variable,  and  hopelessly  and  forever 
short  of  that  simultaneous  and  comprehensive 
consciousness  of  all  events  present  and  past  which 
has  been  imputed  only  to  deity,  has  a  multitude 
of  bearings  upon  the  affairs  of  civilized  society 
and  especially  must  be  reckoned  with  in  laying 
the  foundations  for  achieving  social  welfare. 
How  frail  a  remedy,  for  example,  against  the 
"  malefactors  of  great  wealth  "  would  be  the  pro- 
posed remedy  of  publicity  taking  the  form  of 
social  ostracism.  Attention  flags,  and  our  griev- 
ances are  short-lived.  Even  the  drama  has  re- 
tired the  delayed-retribution  motive  and  no  longer 


38  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

asks  the  audience  to  follow  a  character  who 
bides  his  time  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  and 
brings  his  enmity  rank  to  the  tragedy  just  before 
the  curtain  falls.  Attention  shifted  so  rapidly 
at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  that  the  wind  went 
out  of  the  sails  of  revenge. 

0.  Need  of  Effective  Publicity 

In  the  first  place  we  simply  cannot  give  our 
attention  to  a  wide  range  of  matters,  past  or 
present,  and  any  exhortation  to  the  public  to 
give  its  attention  beyond  the  normal  stretch  is 
futile.  Governmental  complexities  soon  must 
pass  beyond  the  unaided  attention  of  the  great 
majority  of  citizens;  if  a  vast  deal  more  atten- 
tion must  be  given  by  the  citizen  to  details  of 
government  while  engrossed  in  his  personal  af- 
fairs, then  we  have  come  to  about  the  end  of  the 
rope.  The  limitations  of  memory  and  attention 
must  be  acknowledged  with  scientific  frankness 
and  efforts  to  prod  our  millions  into  an  abnormal 
attitude  of  mental  strain  abandoned,  and  in  their 
place  must  be  substituted  schemes  by  which  the 
rational  ordering  of  society  for  general  better- 
ment may  be  brought  about  in  conformity  with 
the  laws  of  the  human  mind.  When  aroused  by 
flagrant  abuses  or  shocking  imposition  the  citi- 
zen and  the  reformer  feel  that  such  will  never 
occur  again;  the  affair  is  burning-white  in  the 
center  of  aroused  attention,  but,  as  it  is  said,  the 


The  Limits  of  Attention 


people  soon  "  go  to  sleep,"  which,  indeed,  is  per- 
fectly natural.  And  within  a  month  the  gas 
company  is  again  selling  air,  and  the  food  manu- 
facturer, while  perhaps  removing  benzoate  of 
soda,  puts  his  goods  in  smaller  containers  at  a 
higher  price.  The  public  cannot  give  its  atten- 
tion in  detail  to  all  its  public  affairs,  and  plans 
of  social  improvement  that  rest  on  such  assump- 
tion simply  delay  the  sort  of  progress  that  rests 
on  human  factors.  We  have  seen  public  atten- 
tion swing  ponderously  in  recent  years  from  one 
issue  to  another,  and  while  one  evil  was  under 
attack  others  were  escaping. 

The  public,  like  the  individual,  frequently 
thinks  it  is  giving  its  attention  more  fully  than 
is  really  the  case.  Let  one  try  to  recall  what  he 
had  for  dinner  yesterday  or  try  to  list  his  ex- 
penses for  the  past  week;  the  events  that  one 
does  remember  give  a  fallacious  sense  of  the  ful- 
ness of  recollection,  but  upon  close  investiga- 
tion it  is  found  that  thousands  and  thousands 
of  items  and  incidents  have  gone  down  with 
scarce  a  bubble  on  the  surface.  Indeed  the  nor- 
mal feeling  is  that  one  who  is  consistently 
attentive,  as  to  the  single  tax  or  the  physical 
valuation  of  railroads,  is  a  crank  —  he  is  a  person 
of  "  one  idea." 

The  popular  mind  shows  the  same  kind  of 
variability  exhibited  in  the  individual  who  is 
absorbed  in  one  topic  this  week  and  in  another 


40  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

the  next.  Today  it  is  the  Dayton  flood  or  a 
Billy  Sunday  revival  and  tomorrow  oil  wells  or 
the  Poughkeepsie  regatta,  but  always  a  singu- 
larly piecemeal  consciousness.  Even  a  three-ring 
circus  is  too  much  for  any  one  patron.  When 
one's  business  expands  one  is  sure  to  neglect 
some  part  of  it.  The  press  reflects  the  fickleness 
of  attention.  For  a  period  a  piece  of  big  news 
throws  its  shadow  across  many  columns,  then  to 
be  succeeded  by  another  equally  engrossing  sub- 
ject. The  influential  criminal  wins  delays,  and 
when  his  case  is  finally  disposed  of  the  echoes 
of  the  former  outcry  have  died  away.  Congress 
attacks  its  problems  seriatim.  Immigration,  the 
parcel  post,  rate  regulation,  rural  credits,  the 
trust  question,  all  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be ; 
one  waits  on  another,  and  all  wait  on  the  tariff  — 
the  tariff  has  been  a  colossal  sponge  licking  up 
the  consciousness  of  the  public  for  a  third  of  a 
century  while  hundreds  of  issues  have  waited  to 
be  heard.  There  are  cases  where  issues  have  been 
raised  to  divert  the  public  mind  on  the  principle 
enunciated  by  Josh  Billings:  "Tight  boots 
make  a  man  forget  all  his  other  troubles." 

In  appraising,  then,  the  mental  factors  which 
must  be  employed  in  social  reconstruction,  it  is 
well  to  recognize  these  limits.  In  private  affairs 
the  individual  is  likely  to  develop  a  system  for 
jogging  his  memory;  he  may  tie  a  string  in  a 
buttonhole,  or  place  a  pencil  in  his  left  shoe  the 


The  Limits  of  Attention  41 

night  before ;  he  knows  his  frailty,  and  perhaps 
thinks  other  people  are  not  so  —  but  they  are. 
There  is  need  of  a  system  of  memory -jogging 
for  the  public  with  reference  to  public  business. 
At  any  rate  let  note  be  taken  of  the  limits  of 
attention  as  a  fact  to  be  considered  when  public 
welfare  is  sought  to  be  promoted.  This  feature 
of  mentality  should  be  recognized  in  a  far  more 
effective  system  of  publicity  for  governmental 
affairs  and  the  utilization  of  special  agencies  by 
which  the  variable  consciousness  of  the  public 
may  be  brought  back  again  and  again  to  matters 
of  import. 

A  flitting  attention  has  its  chief  function  in 
bearing  to  consciousness  information  needed  to 
keep  one  in  adjustment  to  physical  surround- 
ings. One  must  notice  a  drop  in  temperature, 
the  smell  of  escaping  gas,  and  a  thousand  stimuli 
which  are  significant  for  personal  safety.  But 
the  inherited  and  confirmed  tendency  rapidly  to 
shift  the  mental  eye  is  a  fundamental  disqualifi- 
cation for  concentrating  thought  upon  abstruse 
problems,  while  the  completeness  with  which  one 
idea  dispossesses  another  and  one  topic  forces 
another  out  of  mind  suggests  that  special  meth- 
ods of  publicity  be  employed  for  marshaling 
thought  for  civic  ends. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FORMS    OF    DISTRACTION 

A  FACT  which  has  a  bearing  upon  the  im- 
provability  of  society  is  that  the  individual 
has  only  a  certain  amount  of  energy  and  that  if 
this  is  drained  for  physical  purposes  there  is  a 
shortage  for  mental  processes.  Mental  and 
motor  activity  are,  of  course,  closely  joined; 
without  motor  expression  mentality  is  not  clearly 
defined;  thought  is  generated  and  quickened  by 
demands  upon  the  muscles,  and  physical  and 
mental  training  have  much  in  common.  But 
nevertheless  the  balance  between  typically  phys- 
ical and  mental  activities  is  easily  disturbed, 
and  the  outlook  for  a  higher  civilization  is  in 
no  slight  measure  concerned  with  the  extent  to 
which  motor  expression  unnecessarily  obtrudes 
and  consumes  energies  otherwise  more  effectively 
employed. 

1.  Brain  Work  vs.  Physical  Labor 

That  there  is  a  conflict  between  intellectual 
and  physical  employments  is  evident.  The  house- 
wife, busy  with  a  wide  range  of  manual  activities, 
not  only  often  does  not  find  time  to  read,  but 
even  when  time  is  found  discovers  that  her  mental 


Forms  of  Distraction  43 

grasp  is  disappointing.  Days  of  toil  in  the  field 
dispose  rather  to  torpor  and  slumber  than  to 
thought.  At  Brook  Farm  the  author  of  The 
Bliihedale  Romance  learned  that  there  is  an 
inconsistency  between  meditation  and  hoeing 
corn.  So  protected  must  be  the  easily  blown-out 
flame  of  attention  and  thought  that,  with  many, 
mere  sense  stimulations,  as  a  rattling  window,  a 
fly  buzzing  in  the  pane,  the  infrequent  beating 
of  a  distant  door,  or  street  sounds  quite  interrupt 
these  processes ;  for  which  considerations,  per- 
haps, philosophers  are  associated  with  the  desert 
and  divers  authors  "  take  to  the  woods."  The 
splendor  of  the  intellectual  life  of  England  has 
been  ascribed  to  the  existence  of  a  leisure  class. 
The  leisure  represented  by  the  school  is  the  very 
foundation  of  civilization. 

The  evolution  away  from  big  bodies  and  small 
brains,  of  the  age  of  the  Dinotherium  and  the 
mammoth,  is  presumably  paralleled  in  mankind 
by  an  evolution  away  from  mere  muscle  and 
toward  rational  attainments.  Accordingly,  the^ 
shortening  of  hours  of  labor,  the  providing  of 
vacations  universally,  the  substitution  of  ma- 
chinery, and  the  guarding  of  the  years  of  youth 
and  of  leisure  in  maturity  are  of  the  utmost 
meaning  for  progress.  Under  slave  and  factory 
conditions  the  absorption  of  energy  in  motor 
uses  is  often  so  complete  that  mentality  can 
hardly  appear,  and  even  in  the  intelligent  farm- 


44  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

ing  class  interminable  hours  of  work  and 
"  chores  "  so  sop  up  the  nervous  forces  that  few 
in  this  occupation  have  been  found  with  the 
mental  activity  required  for  the  leadership  of 
country  life.  We  properly  distinguish  between 
brain  work  and  other  work,  and  only  by  holding 
down  physical  labor  to  a  moderate  maximum  may 
there  exist  generally  throughout  society  the  alert 
mentality  which  the  social  vision  requires.  The 
great  majority  of  people  do  not  regularly  find 
time  to  read  and  think,  and  so  when  an  unex- 
pected leisure  occurs  there  is  little  preparation 
for  making  the  most  of  it.  As  a  result  the  phys- 
ical laborer  is  likely  to  spend  his  odd  hours 
sharpening  his  pocketknife  or  wandering  aim- 
lessly about  in  the  woods  or  fields,  subject  only 
to  the  minimum  stimulations  of  raw  nature. 

The  political  sagacity  of  a  people  who  in  the 
majority  spend  nearly  all  their  time  in  physical 
activities  is  sure  to  be  disappointing.  The  slave- 
owner of  the  South  opposed  the  teaching  of 
slaves  to  read,  realizing  its  stimulating  effects. 
But  "free"  labor  may  be  so  arduous  that  the 
benefits  of  reading  are  but  slightly  realized. 
Probably  the  immense  majority  of  adults  in  the 
United  States  do  not  read  a  book  a  year,  and 
many  who  take  papers  do  not  find  time  to  read 
them.  Included  in  the  non-reading  public  are 
five  and  one-half  million  persons  in  the  United 
States,  over  ten  years  of  age,  who  are  illiterates. 


Forms  of  Distraction  45 


In  double  line  of  march,  at  intervals  of  three 
feet,  these  5,516,163  illiterate  persons  would  ex- 
tend over  a  distance  of  1,567  miles.  Marching  at 
the  rate  of  twenty-five  miles  a  day,  it  would  require 
more  than  two  months  for  them  to  pass  a  given 
point.1 

It  is  indeed  a  wonder  that  political  progress 
is  making  so  rapidly  when  so  few  have  opportu- 
nity for  intellectual  development  and  the  obtain- 
ing of  appropriate  information.  The  factory 
hand  who  reaches  home  tired  late  in  the  day  is  in 
no  condition  to  weigh  political  theories  or  fol- 
low the  lines  of  thought  in  the  more  profitable 
articles  of  the  day.  A  more  just  division  of  time 
between  physical  and  intellectual  exercises  must 
be  attained.  Democracy  implies  a  reasonable 
universal  leisure. 

0.  Energy  Given  to  Sports 

But  leisure  does  not  insure  against  a  dispro- 
portionate devotion  of  energy  to  the  physical. 
While  health,  recreation,  and  valuable  social 
training  are  promoted  by  participation  in  sports 
and  games,  athletic  activities  may  become  an 
obsession  and  displace  other  important  interests. 
Athletic  training  finds  its  warrant  in  developing 
a  good  body  as  a  basis  for  moral  and  intellectual 
possibilities.  Knobby  muscles  and  Herculean 

1  U.  8.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  20,  1913. 


46  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

physique  are  unwisely  exalted  when  standards 
are  set  up  which  in  effect  discriminate  against 
mentality  in  favor  of  "beef."  It  is  indeed  a 
confession  of  the  impotence  of  the  intellectual 
appeal  of  universities  when  it  is  argued  that 
without  militant  football  the  energies  of  the  stu- 
dent body  would  turn  to  vice,  for  which  the  pig- 
skin is  a  prophylactic. 

The  absorption  of  energy  in  motor  interests 
takes  a  peculiarly  degenerate  turn  in  the  riotous 
abandon  of  enthusiasm  displayed  on  the  "  bleach- 
ers," where  neither  the  benefit  of  actual  exercise 
nor  the  stimulus  of  mental  effort  is  experienced. 
The  significant  term,  "rooting,"  represents  a 
phase  of  American  life  of  more  than  passing  im- 
portance. When  30,000  people  "go  wild"  at 
a  ball  game  which  settles  no  issues  and  involves 
no  uplift,  and  when  "  f annism  "  is  the  principal 
avocation  of  multitudes  of  voters  whose  vocations 
are  in  many  cases  those  of  office  routine  or  are 
narrowly  mechanical,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether 
commercialized  sports  are  an  unmixed  blessing. 
Divided  thus  between  vocation  and  avocation,  is 
it  any  wonder  that  it  has  taken  the  people  of  the 
United  States  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  secure 
a  pure-food  law,  and  that  the  people's  Con- 
gress is  styled  by  H.  G.  Wells  as  the  "feeblest, 
least  accessible,  and  most  inefficient  central 
government  of  any  civilized  nation  west  of 
Russia." 


Forms  of  Distraction  47 

Any  interest  may  acquire  an  abnormal  devel- 
opment, and  physical  expression  not  rarely 
passes  moderate  bounds,  and  consumes  nerve 
forces  which  would  otherwise  be  available  for 
grappling  with  the  problems  of  the  age.  Atten- 
tion may  be  deflected  from  social  issues  by  athletic 
propaganda,  as  witness  the  promotion  by  the 
Russian  government  of  sports  and  games  with  a 
view  to  counteracting  radical  tendencies  among 
young  people.  One  cannot  attend  to  several 
things  at  the  same  time,  and  if  a  youth  is  "  base- 
ball crazy"  he  is  not  likely  to  worry  over  the 
evils  of  absolutism.  One  has  only  to  listen  to 
conversation  to  be  convinced  that  the  procession 
of  athletic  topics  throughout  the  year,  chroni- 
cled in  acres  of  print,  has  a  tremendous  diverting 
effect  upon  public  intelligence.  The  reader  will 
be  able  to  call  to  mind  cases  of  individuals  whose 
mentality  is  perpetually  dissipated  through  at- 
tention to  this  ever-recurring  sensationalism. 

3.  Excess  Sex  Interests 

Passing  to  a  different  phase  of  life,  the  domi- 
nance of  the  sex  interest  must  be  recognized.  Of 
all  the  innate  interests  sex  is  the  dominant  one, 
radiating  through  the  whole  social  structure  the 
heat  and  light  of  a  primal  force.  The  aim  of  life, 
biologically,  is  reproduction.  There  is  a  sex 
element,  accordingly,  in  all  activities  and  rela- 
tionships. Mating-psychology  looms  large  in 


48  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

human  nature  and  is  an  element  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  appraising  the  forces  available  for  the  im- 
provement of  society.  Robert  Burns  wrote  many 
songs,  but  the  socially  reconstructive  "A  man's 
a  man  for  a'  that"  stands  alone;  more  charac- 
teristic is, 

Oh,  my  hive's  like  a  red,  red  rose 
That's  newly  sprung  in  June. 

The  mating  instinct  influences  the  rate  of 
progress,  especially  as  it  may  acquire  abnormal 
recognition  and  represent  an  undue  absorption 
of  attention.  While  it  would  not  be  well  to  join 
too  heartily  in  deploring  with  the  poet  "the 
time  I've  lost  in  wooing,"  yet  one  is  impressed 
with  the  immense  deflection  of  thought  from 
social  issues  which  artificially  stimulated  sex 
interests  entail.  It  is  only  under  ideals  of  gos- 
sipy sensationalism  and  by  means  of  modern 
facilities  for  diffusing  ideas  that  the  attention 
of  millions  could  be  almost  exclusively  fixed  upon 
an  unsavory  criminal  action  or  centered  upon 
newspaper  discussions  of  a  dubious  picture.  If 
unsupplied  with  suitable  culture  materials  and 
exposed  to  protean  suggestions,  the  individual 
may  attain  a  sensuality  of  outlook  probably 
unparalleled  in  savagery.  Society  in  its  col- 
lective wisdom  may  well  concern  itself  with  the 
character  of  the  channels  through  which  men- 


Forms  of  Distraction  49 

tality  finds  expression.  What  ideas  enter  the 
mind  is  of  radical  significance,  for  interests  may 
be  caused  to  grow  or  to  wither.  It  is  accordingly 
a  vital  question  whether  public  attention  is  ex- 
cessively directed  to  sex. 

While  the  drama  of  human  life  extends  vastly 
beyond  early  love  affairs  or  the  maladjustments 
of  marriage,  nevertheless  mating  is  ingeniously 
exploited  and  made  the  central  subject  of  popu- 
lar literature,  as  the  "  best  sellers  "  bear  witness. 
Despite  the  fact  that  millions  of  people  have 
suitably  adjusted  their  connubial  relations,  the 
printing  presses  are  clogged  with  the  literature 
of  mating,  and  heads  of  families  who  venture 
betimes  to  the  theater  are  regaled  with  eroticism. 
It  is  demonstrable  that  the  post-adolescent  years 
abound  in  an  exhaustless  supply  of  materials  for 
novel  and  drama,  but  that  themes  from  this  frui- 
tion period  of  experience  are  effectually  displaced 
is  evident. 

Possibly  the  delayed  age  of  marriage  has  much 
to  do  with  the  preponderant  attractiveness  of 
the  mating  theme  and  its  consequent  financial 
exploitation.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  problems 
of  the  years  that  follow  the  heyday  of  youth 
should  not  be  unceremoniously  put  to  rout,  nor 
should  the  forces  which  might  energize  social 
betterment  be  dissipated  in  a  promoted  and  pro- 
tracted absorption  in  sex  themes.  If  the  edge  of 
revolution  may  be  turned  by  the  inspired  circu- 


50  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

lation  of  pornographic  literature,  it  is  evident 
that  there  is  loss  in  the  obtrusion  of  sex  senti- 
mentalism  into  thought-currents.  J^The  attention 
of  thousands  is  consumed  at  popular  entertain- 
ments where  whole  evenings  are  devoted  to  "  num- 
bers," musical  Or  otherwise,  in  which  the  mating 
theme  is  worn  to  shreds,  and  not  the  slightest 
impulse  is  given  to  creative  thought  in  any  direc- 
tion. Time  thus  spent  may  be  absolutely  crossed 
off  the  records  so  far  as  progress  is  concerned. 

The  biological  impulsions  to  mating  would 
hardly  of  themselves  excresce  into  obstructions 
to  progress  were  efforts  not  inspired  by  commer- 
cial motives  to  play  upon  sex  inclination.  Adver- 
tising seizes  upon  this  interest,  even  to  the 
distraction  of  thought  from  the  merits  of  goods 
advertised.  For  example,  a  men's  clothing  ad- 
vertisement on  a  billboard  represented  a  young 
woman  dressed  in  a  man's  suit ;  eight  young  men, 
the  number  interrogated,  testified  that  they  did 
not  notice  the  brand  of  clothes  advertised,  their 
attention  being  given  solely  to  the  illustration. 
Society  is  familiar  with  the  idea  of  commercial- 
ized vice,  but  there  is  also,  from  the  viewpoint  of 
energizing  progress,  a  problem  arising  from  the 
unrestrained  commercial  exploitation  of  sex  in- 
terest through  a  multitude  of  appeals  in  adver- 
tisements of  travel,  personal  belongings,  beer, 
and  cigarettes.  An  obsession  of  sex  interest  is 
readily  developed,  abetted  by  trade,  the  senti- 


Forms  of  Distraction  51 

mental  song,  the  problem  play,  and  sensational 
journalism. 

4>   Woman  and  Dress 

A  feature  of  mating  whose  social  significance 
can  hardly  be  exaggerated  is  dress.  The  burden 
placed  upon  woman,  rather  than  upon  man,  of 
attracting  the  other  sex  —  in  the  lower  animals 
a  burden  borne  by  the  male  —  is  deplored  by 
Mrs.  C.  P.  Gilman.1  In  any  case  woman  has 
largely  assumed  the  load  of  sex  ornament,  and  it 
is  a  heavy  one.  Not  only  during  the  mating  age 
proper  does  the  "sex  vanity"  of  dress  nearly 
monopolize  attention,  but  as  well  quite  commonly 
for  a  longer  period,  either  because  mating  is  not 
a  closed  incident  or  because  of  the  vitality  of  a 
strong  interest,  transferred  to  rivalry  in  jewels, 
equipage,  and  pursuit  of  fashion.  The  volume 
of  interest  and  intelligence  thus  prevented  from 
being  directly  available,  not  only  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  status  of  woman,  but  for  general 
social  betterment,  is  enormous.  Observe  the 
thought-currents  of  the  chance  feminine  group 
or  of  the  tense  Easter  assemblage,  and  note  how 
often  hardly  a  rill  of  intellectuality  flows  out 
toward  the  world's  wider  movements.  Great 
amounts  of  "  crystallized  labor,"  which  is  capital, 
are  Moloched  to  fashion,  and  vast  energies  are 
thus  lost  to  constructive  social  effort. 


The  Man-made  World.    The  Charlton  Co.,  New  York. 


52  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

An  acceleration  of  progressive  movements 
would  doubtless  follow  the  adoption  of  more  uni- 
form dress,  while  such  economic  readjustments  as 
would  permit  marriage  at  an  earlier  age  in  cer- 
tain classes  would  tend  to  enlist  interests  in  the 
larger  social  issues.  Surely  commercialized  sug- 
gestion merits  disapproval.  To  build  the  ideal 
future  requires  the  conservation  of  suitable  ideas 
and  a  reasonable  exaltation  of  other  than  sex 
topics. 

5.  Other  Interests 

Whatever  occupies  the  public  mind  to  the 
undue  exclusion  of  public  affairs  may  be  set  down 
as  retarding  the  solution  of  the  issues  which  lie 
at  the  threshold  of  rational  civilization.  His- 
torically, the  focusing  of  attention  upon  a  future 
world,  in  which  the  evils  of  the  present  would 
disappear  without  human  effort,  proved  an  unwit- 
ting ally  of  temporal  injustice.  The  expectation 
that  the  world  would  come  to  an  end  in  the  year 
1000  had  a  paralyzing  effect  upon  the  energies 
of  Europe.  Wherever  injustice  has  been  pas- 
sively endured  because  of  faith,  injustice  has 
become  more  firmly  rooted.  Hence  the  vast 
importance  of  the  newer  viewpoint  which  assumes 
that  one  is  his  brother's  keeper  and  that  the 
highest  ideals  of  religion  are  to  be  exemplified  in 
current  human  relationships.  In  the  new  drift  of 
religious  thought  there  is  the  promise  of  unprece- 


Forms  of  Distraction  53 

dented  social  betterment,  for  an  immense  volume 
of  feeling  and  will,  at  one  time  not  so  active  a 
reform  force,  now  supplies  motive  power  for 
progress. 

The  intellectual  capital  of  the  world  consists 
largely  of  people's  interests ;  and  these  are  sub- 
ject to  modification;  they  may  be  enlarged  or 
diminished,  and  new  interests  may  be  developed. 
It  is  highly  important,  this,  what  people  are 
interested  in,  because  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
people  may  readily  become  interested  in  the  best 
things.  While  there  is  a  substratum  of  perma- 
nent tendencies,  one  is  nevertheless  susceptible 
to  extensive  redirection. 

The  interests  which  characterize  the  public 
today  are  often  criticized  as  trivial  and  unworthy. 
A  writer  ventures  the  following  as  a  truthful  list 
of  the  great  "  interests  "  which  make  up  Ameri- 
can life:  (1)  the  ticker;  (2)  female  apparel; 
(3)  baseball  bulletin;  (4)  the  "movies";  (5) 
bridge  whist;  (6)  turkey  trotting;  (7)  yellow 
journal  headlines  and  "funny"  pages;  (8)  the 
prize  fight.  And  the  estimate  is  made  that  100,- 
000  Americans  are  genuinely  interested  in  the 
foregoing  matters  to  Apry  5,000  who  are  inter- 
ested in  politics  and^k  every  1,000  who  are 
interested  in  educations 

This  list  is  not  a  hi^w  creditable  one,  and  it 
is  not  one  that  speaks  tBefully  of  the  ability  of 

i  The  Independent,  AprilBr,  1913. 


54  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

the  people  to  inject  intelligence  into  the  social 
process  and  achieve  reforms  of  government.  As 
long  as  such  interests  dominate  there  can  be  but 
an  imperfect  base  for  democracy.  But  it  may 
be  that  these  interests  are  receiving  a  hothouse 
culture  or  that  they  represent  but  frivolous 
moods.  There  are  solider  elements  in  human 
nature,  to  which  appeal  may  not  be  made  in 
vain. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  EFFECT   OF   MACHINERY   UPON   THE   MIND 

THE  most  obvious  aspect  of  the  use  of  ma- 
chinery is  that  it  frees  muscle  and  shifts 
a  tremendous  burden  from  flesh  and  bone.  An 
immense  amount  of  heavy,  grinding  work  has 
been  transferred  to  inanimate  forces  and  nerve- 
less matter.  This  is  a  great  gain ;  in  the  first 
place  because  of  the  increase  of  production.  The 
average  man  today,  through  the  use  of  machin- 
ery, produces  twenty  times  as  much  as  was  pro- 
duced by  the  average  man  250  years  ago. 

1.  Leisure  Possible 

When  farmers  cradled  their  wheat,  bound  it  by 
hand,  and  threshed  with  flails,  the  operation  re- 
quired for  one  bushel  of  wheat  the  labor  of  one 
man  for  an  average  time  of  183  minutes.  With 
labor-saving  machinery,  the  modern  farmer  can 
do  the  same  work  in  10  minutes.  Seventy-five 
years  ago,  66  hours  of  labor  were  expended  on 
an  acre  of  oats,  whereas  the  labor  time  is  now 
but  7-3*5-  hours.  Modern  civilization  rests 
upon  an  increase  of  wealth  traceable  to  the 
industrial  revolution  and  a  machine  era.  Li- 
braries, universities,  assemblies,  the  press,  and 
55 


56  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

other  agencies  of  enlightenment  rest  squarely 
upon  the  machine,  which  enables  mankind  to  real- 
ize a  higher  culture.  The  educated  and  leisured 
classes  owe  their  emancipation  to  an  easier  pro- 
duction of  wealth. 

Time  and  energy  are  afforded  for  intellectual 
pursuits.  Heavy  physical  labor  is  incompatible 
with  mental  exercise.  A  long  working  day  leaves 
small  energy  for  brain  activity.  When  to  feed, 
clothe,  and  provide  shelter  for  the  world  re- 
quired unceasing  toil,  the  masses  could  not  be 
expected  to  develop  a  thought-life.  A  certain 
amount  of  physical  activity  conduces  to  mental 
development,  but  there  is  ample  evidence  that 
motor  employments  have  an  arresting  effect. 
Larger  and  larger  numbers  enjoy  the  possibility 
of  exemption  from  the  deadening  effects  of  se- 
vere physical  toil,  a  fact  which  throws  a  most 
favorable  light  upon  a  machine  age.  There  is  a 
mental  bondage  where  there  is  muscle  bond- 
age. The  long-continued  existence  of  a  near- 
slave  status  on  the  part  of  women  finds 
a  partial  explanation  in  the  fact  that  household 
labor  has  been  hand  labor  and  that  it  has  been 
excessive. 

2.  Machinery  May  Stimulate  Thought 

Not  only  is  energy  released  for  mental  devel- 
opment, but  efforts  to  provide  new  devices  and 
improvements  are  distinctly  stimulating,  and  a 


'Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     57 

remarkable  intelligence  appears  in  a  limited  class. 
Here  is  a  field  which  has  furnished  large  incen- 
tives for  active  intelligence ;  not  only  in  mechani- 
cal invention,  but  in  repair  and  regulation,  is 
a  resourceful  mind  called  for.  A  considerable 
body  of  men  are  employed  in  thus  dealing  intelli- 
gently with  motor  vehicles,  power  machinery, 
typesetting  machines,  and  the  like,  and  in  the 
installation  and  regulation  of  all  sorts  of  manu- 
facturing equipment. 

This  sort  of  activity  stimulates  intelligence, 
though  it  must  be  conceded  in  all  fairness  that 
the  mechanical  genius  or  the  expert  repair  man 
may  be  unlearned  in  philosophy,  ignorant  of 
political  science,  unacquainted  with  history,  and 
destitute  of  an  appreciation  of  poetry;  but  for 
all  that,  his  intelligence  is  quickened  and  all 
he  now  needs  is  concrete  instruction  along  other 
than  mechanical  lines.  He  has  undergone  cerebral 
stimulation ;  he  has  learned  how  to  think  and  to 
adapt  himself;  he  can  seize  upon  a  problem.  A 
dull  person  could  not  install  dynamos  or  repair 
microscopes.  The  skilled  mechanician  may  have 
his  limitations  in  liberal  culture  and  sociological 
insight,  but  he  has  real  problems  to  face  and  he 
meets  them  successfully.  The  plumber  who  is 
called  in  consultation  upon  an  inadequate  heat- 
ing system  is  quite  as  professional  for  the  time 
as  the  physician  called  to  deal  with  sudden 
illness.  The  farmer  who  buys  a  new  windmill, 


58  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

a  wild-oats  separator,  or  a  milking  machine  is 
made  to  take  a  learning  attitude.  A  piece  of 
machinery  that  will  not  work  may  nearly  if  not 
quite  duplicate  the  unparalleled  educational  situ- 
ation represented  by  a  balky  horse.  No  people 
can  remain  entirely  uncivilized  if  visited  by  sales- 
men of  modern  appliances,  subjected  to  the 
instruction  of  innumerable  advertisements,  circu- 
lars, and  pamphlets,  and  impelled  by  the  necessity 
of  knowing  how  to  operate  the  contrivance  when 
once  it  has  been  purchased. 

Under  certain  conditions  machinery  has  a 
stimulating  effect  upon  intelligence.  It  presents 
problems  to  be  solved;  it  necessitates  a  concen- 
tration of  attention ;  it  constitutes  a  new  world 
for  mankind  and  represents  a  complexity  which 
compels  thought.  To  keep  in  proper  adjustment 
to  this  mechanical  environment  requires  a  degree 
of  mental  alertness.  There  has  been  upreared 
on  the  earth  an  artificial  environment  which  taxes 
attention  and  thought  in  a  way  no  less  real  than 
in  the  case  of  nature.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred, 
however,  that  such  effect  of  machinery  is  to  edu- 
cate for  civic  or  social  relations.  In  estimating 
the  general  culture  of  the  individual,  it  is  quite 
fitting  to  look  principally  to  his  preparation  for 
comprehensive  social  relationships,  and  while  the 
skilled  workman  is  often  a  highly  intelligent 
citizen  and  voter,  or  perhaps  a  philosophizing 
socialist,  yet  various  phases  of  intellectual  life 


'Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     59 

are  doubtless  but  indirectly  if  at  all  favorably 
affected  by  mechanical  training. 

3.  How  Machinery  Affects  Operatives 

But  to  turn  to  a  very  different  class  of  people, 
a  very  large  class,  compared  to  whom  the  crea- 
tive mechanicians  are  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket 
—  the  operatives  —  we  find  that  machinery  has 
its  bad  effects.  The  operative  who  performs  but 
a  mere  repetition  of  movements  is  subjected  to 
about  the  worst  possible  influence  from  the  stand- 
point of  mental  development.  It  is  true,  of 
course,  that  motor  activity,  as  in  manual  train- 
ing, has  a  stimulating  effect,  but  just  as  soon  as 
movements  become  habitual,  mental  development 
therefrom  ceases.  It  is  educative  to  learn  to  drive 
a  nail,  but  when  the  driving  of  a  nail  is  performed 
automatically  as  the  result  of  practice  it  ceases 
to  be  thought-provoking.  Manual  training  is 
an  important  adjunct  of  the  educational  system, 
viewed  simply  from  the  point  of  view  of  mental 
development;  but  when  the  exercises  are  fully 
learned  the  individual  must  pass  on  to  new  situa- 
tions or  suffer  arrest  of  development. 

Machine  production  tends  toward  a  minute  di- 
vision of  labor  and  a  specialization  inconsistent 
with  the  mental  welfare  of  the  operative.  There 
are  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  operations  in 
making  of  the  upper  of  a  shoe  and  each  of  these 
is  performed  by  a  different  man  in  a  well-run 


60  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

shop.  Such  division  of  labor  results  in  an  in- 
tense monotony  on  the  part  of  the  workman. 
The  whole  manufacturing  world  is  adjusted  to 
such  specialization,  the  peculiar  value  of  which 
is  that  it  tends  toward  increased  production.  No 
one  has  ever  argued  that  the  individual  was  bene- 
fited by  doing  work  under  the  conditions  of 
intense  specialization  and  rigid  routine. 
President  Hibben,  of  Princeton,  says : 

When  mind  becomes  mechanical  it  is  departing 
radically  from  its  essential  source  as  a  living 
organism.  It  depends  wholly  upon  the  manner  in 
which  we  treat  the  mind  whether  it  retains  its  vital 
character  or  becomes  a  mere  machine. 

Employers  and  employed  unite  in  the  view 
that  routine  is  undesirable  from  the  individual 
standpoint.  Long  subjected  to  unvarying  em- 
ployment, the  individual  loses  initiative,  spirit, 
and  will-power.  His  work  is  planned  for  him  by 
someone  else  and  a  limited  range  of  physical 
movements  engrosses  attention.  Such  conditions 
are  inevitably  stupefying.  The  operative  be- 
comes a  mere  adjunct  to  his  machine.  All  ex- 
cept the  most  elementary  forms  of  reasoning  are 
dispensed  with.  Consciousness  sinks  to  a  low 
level  and  the  lower  centers  govern  responses. 
Especially  are  the  results  harmful  when  there  is 
speeding  up  and  the  individual  is  left  with  no 
surplus  energy. 

Frederick  W.   Taylor,   author  of  works   on 


'Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     61 

scientific  management,  made  the  following  state- 
ment before  a  special  committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives : 

I  think  this  tendency  of  training  toward  special- 
izing the  work  is  true  of  all  managements,  for  the 
reason  that  a  man  becomes  more  productive  when 
working  at  his  specialty,  and  while  it  is  deplorable 
in  certain  ways  (there  is  no  question  about  it,  there 
are  various  elements  in  this  specialization  that  are 
deplorable),  still  the  prosperity  of  the  world  and 
the  development  of  the  world  —  the  fact  that  the 
average  workman  in  this  day  lives  as  well  as  kings 
lived  250  years  ago  —  that  fact  is  due  to  a  certain 
extent  to  just  this  very  specialization. 

This  statement  by  the  high  priest  of  scientific 
management  indicates  that  production,  instead 
of  the  welfare  of  the  workman,  proceeds  from 
mechanical  specialization. 

A  recent  magazine  interview  with  Henry  Ford, 
of  the  Ford  Motor  Company,  runs  as  follows : 

"  You  put  the  man  at  a  machine,  teach  him  to 
control  it,  and  he  stands  there  weeks  and  months 
and  years  mechanically  producing  one  trifling  thing. 
How  does  that  affect  him  temperamentally  ?  " 

"  It  drives  him  crazy,"  said  Ford,  positively,  as 
he  had  said  everything  else.  "  But  we  see  to  it  that 
a  man  does  not  do  one  thing  too  long.  We  keep  him 
moving  through  the  shop." 

The  effect  which  Ford  deliberately  seeks  to  avoid 
is  one  which  prevails  almost  universally.  The  state 
of  the  machine-tender  is  authoritatively  described 


62  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

by  Samuel  Gompers,  president  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor.     Gompers  says : 

Wage-workers  in  factory  occupations  tend  ma- 
chines, and  by  tending  of  such  machines  do  not 
have  the  opportunity  of  making  or  completing  any 
part  of  the  whole,  but  only  perform  a  minute  and 
infinitesimal  part  of  a  part.  As  a  consequence, 
the  people  who  gain  their  livelihood  by  tending 
such  machines  become  automata.  They  become 
part  of  a  machine  —  thoughtless  and  spiritless  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  are  unable  to  do  the 
slightest  thing,  or  perform  in  any  way  to  their 
own  advantage,  or  to  the  advantage  of  their  em- 
ployer, unless  they  have  a  prompter  at  their  side 
in  the  shape  of  a  planning  master,  a  foreman,  or  a 
boss  of  some  other  title. 

It  is  the  most  pronounced  in  the  textile  industries 
—  silk,  wool,  cotton,  cordage,  jute,  etc. —  the  nov- 
elty industries  —  watch  making,  furniture  manu- 
facture, paper  making,  and  many  other  of  our  basic 
industries. 

Some  American  employers  have  commenced  to 
see  what  a  dilemma  they  are  facing  for  men  and 
women  capable  of  directing  their  departments  and 
divisions  of  departments.  They  have  brought 
down  upon  their  own  heads  the  alarming  situation 
of  working  for  profit  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
have  neglected  to  train  men  and  women  to  take 
responsible  official  positions  of  administrative 
capacity  in  their  own  factories,  and  such  manufac- 
turers have  at  last  commenced  to  appreciate  the 
foresight  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
in  its  efforts  to  establish  vocational  education  and 
national  trade  training  schools  by  federal  aid  in 
all  of  the  states. 


Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind    63 

It  stands  to  reason  that,  if  men  and  women  are 
reduced  by  force  of  circumstances,  and  through 
the  folly  of  certain  so-called  efficiency  systems 
promulgated  in  recent  years  by  fanatics  on  that 
subject,  like  Messrs.  Taylor,  Gant,  Emerson,  Har- 
rington, and  others,  the  workers  in  our  industries 
will  be  deprived  of  all  opportunities  to  develop 
mentally  or  physically,  because  when  the  aspira- 
tions of  men  and  women  are  submerged  and  stunted 
they  become  dependent  upon  the  whim,  the  will, 
the  direction  of  a  superior,  and  there  is  nothing 
left  to  them  but  merely  to  become  docile,  obedient, 
willing  servants.  Such  a  situation  is  not  only 
degrading  to  the  individual,  but  is  a  menace  to 
society. 

Machine  production  is  characterized  not  only 
by  specialization  and  monotony,  but  by  the  cen- 
tralization of  intelligence  in  officers  and  over- 
seers. There  is  a  division  of  labor  as  between 
the  physical  and  mental  aspects  of  industry. 
The  board  of  directors,  the  superintendent,  and 
the  boss  largely  monopolize  the  function  of  direc- 
tion, while  the  employee  takes  orders  and  follows 
rules.  The  logical  result  of  this  is  the  creation 
of  intellectual  classes.  The  worker  loses  his  power 
to  initiate  and  to  think,  while  on  the  side  of  tbe 
management  there  is  a  signal  development  of 
ability.  A  parallel  case  is  that  of  officers  and 
men  in  the  army.  It  is  the  officer  who  under- 
goes mental  development;  it  is  the  private  wbo 
becomes  a  machine.  Military  obedience  results 
in  physical  and  in  mental  traits  which  are  to  a 


64  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

high  degree  mechanical.  It  is  only  too  true  that 
the  well-drilled  company  or  regiment  is  a  ma- 
chine ;  that  is  a  peculiar  condemnation  of  a  mili- 
tary system. 

Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die. 

It  may  be  a  good  investment  from  the  stand- 
point of  production  that  the  superintendent 
should  do  the  thinking,  but  looking  at  it  from 
the  social  point  of  view,  it  is  disastrous.  Espe- 
cially in  a  democracy  is  the  importance  of  widely 
diffused  ability  to  solve  problems  to  be  empha- 
sized. The  increasing  automatism  of  modern 
industry  has  in  itself  a  power  to  create  castes 
based  upon  intellectual  traits. 

Routine-afflicted  operatives  are  dumb  driven 
cattle  before  the  political  trickster  and  the  domi- 
neering employer.  The  fact  that  after  a  cen- 
tury of  factory  conditions  the  successive  gen- 
erations of  workers  have  been  unable  effectively 
to  propose  political  and  economic  remedies  for 
appalling  industrial  conditions  and  must  still 
employ  the  often  self-defeating  and  shortsighted 
strike  method  is  convincing  evidence  of  a  mental 
arrest  which  a  factory  dispensation  encourages0 

It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  the  workman  may 
be  so  privileged,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Ford  sys- 
tem, that  the  full  force  of  a  deadening  routine 


'Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     65 

is  avoided.  The  shortening  of  hours  of  labor, 
provision  for  recreation,  avoidance  of  fatigue, 
and  stimulating  experiences  outside  of  working 
hours '  might  successfully  be  employed  as  an 
offset. 

But  too  often  such  human^jconsiderations 
enter  but  slightly  into  the  wage  relation  in 
manufacturing  enterprises.  Not  rarely  employ- 
ers have  desired  workmen  to  be  content  under 
an  injurious  monotony.  They  have  desired  em- 
ployees who  were  tractable  and  mechanized.  An 
eastern  manufacturer  complained  to  President 
Harvey,  of  the  Stout  School  at  Menominee,  Wis- 
consin, that  his  experience  with  the  graduates  of 
certain  industrial  schools  had  been  unsatisfac- 
tory. He  said  that  boys  whom  he  had  employed 
from  the  schools  were  not  contented  when  doing 
the  kind  of  work  he  wanted  done ;  as  soon  as  the 
boys  mastered  certain  processes  they  were  anx- 
ious to  go  to  something  else  and  to  rise,  whereas 
he  wanted  workmen  to  "stay  put."  President 
Harvey  replied  that  it  was  not  the  purpose  of 
his  institution  to  train  boys  who  would  "stay 
put."  Along  with  the  enormous  social  justifica- 
tion for  trade  schools,  there  is  without  any  doubt, 
in  certain  quarters,  a  desire  to  use  these  as  a  tail 
to  a  dividend  kite.  The  importance  of  voca- 
tional education  is  indeed  great,  but  it  should 
be  guarded  from  the  designs  of  employers  who 
are  interested  in  the  workman  only  as  a  producer. 


66  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

The  boy  educated  as  a  workman  should  also  be 
educated  for  rising  in  his  calling,  and  receive 
instruction,  which  would  make  him  capable  of 
expressing  himself  effectively  through  govern- 
ment and  of  sharing  in  the  fund  of  modern 
thought  and  culture. 

There  is  evidence  that  less  and  less  intelligence 
is  called  for  in  certain  industrial  positions,  and 
that  the  demand  is  for  many  unskilled  or  nar- 
rowly skilled  and  for  only  a  few  really  intelligent 
workers.  Glass  making  at  one  time  required 
skill  and  intelligence;  but  machinery  is  being 
introduced  which  dispenses  with  these  qualities. 
With  the  introduction  of  improved  machinery, 
a  lower  grade  of  labor  is  utilized  in  steel 
making  and  in  mining.  The  very  perfection 
of  machinery  tends  to  lessen  the  importance  of 
really  capable  workmen.  It  is  an  urgent  problem 
of  society  to  utilize  to  the  full  the  vast  benefits 
of  machinery  and  to  minimize  the  deadening 
effects  of  industrial  service.  In  industry  as  now 
ordered  mental  welfare  is  unthought  of.  Per- 
sonal development  remains  to  be  promoted 
through  labor-autonomy,  the  rotation  of  pro- 
cesses, and  the  recognition  at  every  point  of 
psychological  factors. 

4*  Routine  Employments  General 

The  effect  of  machinery,  however,  is  not  lim- 
ited to  its  influence  upon  the  factory  employee, 


^Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     67 

but  has  a  bearing  upon  occupations  in  general. 
The  machine  era  has  resulted  in  the  development 
of  a  very  large  number  of  employments  which 
are  in  a  high  degree  mechanized.  A  division  of 
labor  originating  in  factory  conditions  and 
based  upon  industrial  concepts  is  carried  out  into 
practically  all  fields  of  enterprise.  There  result 
many  occupations  or  jobs  which  are  essentially 
as  monotonous  as  that  of  watching  a  loom  or 
pasting  labels.  Routine  characterizes  an  increas- 
ing number  of  employments.  Take,  for  example, 
the  work  of  a  railway  postal  clerk.  On  certain 
runs  the  names  of  as  many  as  eight  or  nine  thou- 
sand post-offices  must  be  borne  in  mind,  together 
with  forenoon  and  afternoon  connections.  Con- 
stant diligence  is  required  to  maintain  efficiency ; 
as  a  result,  the  postal  clerk  is  thoroughly  mech- 
anized. An  intelligent  man  who  recently  left 
the  service  contributes  some  interesting  informa- 
tion on  the  effects  of  the  system  upon  the  indi- 
vidual. He  testifies  that  the  service  narrowly 
limits  the  range  of  one's  mental  activities.  The 
subjects  discussed  in  off-hours  are  likely  to  per- 
tain only  to  the  technicalities  of  mail  distribution. 
Conversation  is  confined  to  the  details  of  the 
business.  "  Probably  a  man  would  know  who  was 
president  of  the  United  States,"  said  he,  "but 
that  is  about  all."  This  occupation  is  merely 
typical;  in  many  others  similar  tendencies  are 
discernible. 


68  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

The  sufficiency  of  one's  intelligence  comes  to 
be  popularly  judged  by  its  sufficiency  in  a  rou- 
tine employment.  One  feels  no  humiliation  in 
confessing  ignorance  in  regard  to  a  multitude  of 
matters  if  they  are  not  in  his  line.  There  is  a 
possibility  that  such  modesty  may  become  alto- 
gether too  widespread  and  confirmed.  One  who 
aspires  to  general  information  is  old-fashioned. 
One  may  safely  blink  ignorantly  at  thousands  of 
marvels  provided  he  has  the  requisite  in- 
formation pertaining  to  a  specialty.  It  re- 
quires a  syndicate  to  deal  with  any  project 
having  a  variety  of  aspects.  We  insist  upon 
having  most  of  our  thinking  done  by  somebody 
else. 

The  possible  future  development  of  this  pecu- 
liarity of  modern  life  constitutes  a  fascinating 
appeal  to  the  imagination.  Are  we  destined  to 
evolve  a  society  in  which  the  individual  will,  first, 
be  limited  in  range  of  information  and  in  mental 
activity,  and,  secondly,  become  destitute  of  the 
power  of  self-direction  and,  like  the  fully  autom- 
atized bee,  as  described  by  Maeterlinck,  be 
absorbed  in  the  spirit  of  the  hive,  whose  organ- 
ization and  nature  are  far  beyond  conscious 
intelligence?  Is  the  complexity  of  our  indus- 
trial and  social  structure  passing  beyond  the 
possibilities  of  the  individual  mind?  The  field 
of  information  which  is  occupied  by  all  in  com- 
mon is  narrowing  and  the  apportionment  of  the 


Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mind     69 

intellectual  world  becomes  more  and  more  definite 
and  minute. 

5.  The  Fool-Proof  Machine 

An  interesting  phase  of  modern  environment 
is  that  represented  by  the  fool-proof  machine. 
A  multitude  of  such  appliances  are  put  on  the 
market.  Consider,  for  example,  the  automobile. 
Most  of  these  machines  are  run  by  people  whose 
ideas  of  the  essential  parts  are  about  as  clear 
as  they  are  of  darkest  Africa  or  of  the  nervous 
system  of  a  starfish.  A  public  official  in  a  western 
state  who  had  run  a  machine  for  years,  upon 
seeing  the  chassis  of  a  car  in  an  engineering  lab- 
oratory, was  full  of  wonder  and  admitted  that 
he  knew  nothing  about  how  his  machine  was 
made.  People  ride  in  street  cars  who  have  but 
the  most  airy  conception  of  a  trolley  system. 
How  many  cooks  have  an  adequate  understand- 
ing of  the  principles  of  the  modern  range  ?  The 
office-building  elevator  is  accepted  with  that  lack 
of  wonder  which  Carlyle  described  in  connection 
with  a  second  rising  of  the  sun.  A  modern  city, 
with  its  telephone  lines,  its  water  supply,  its  sewer 
system,  its  electrical  distribution,  and  its  sub- 
ways, is  seen  in  its  mechanical  wonderfulness  only 
by  a  discerning  few.  Those  who  plan  and  organ- 
ize profit  by  an  intellectual  stimulation ;  but  those 
whose  only  interest  is  convenience,  those  out  of 
respect  for  whom  fool-proofing  is  done,  go  scot 


70  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

free  of  even  the  slightest  cerebral  excitement. 
A  coffee  percolator  turns  out  a  uniform  product 
for  one  who  can  watch  a  clock;  even  the  flame 
will  be  shut  off  at  the  proper  time  so  that  the 
user  need  exert  himself  only  to  the  extent  of 
stirring  in  the  sugar.  Prosperous  young  people 
and  often  their  elders,  too,  for  that  matter,  ex- 
hibit an  innocent  composure  apparently  never 
disturbed  by  any  disposition  to  resolve  the  prob- 
lems of  their  mechanical  environment  or  to  go 
behind  a  luxurious  adjustment  to  perfected 
conveniences. 

One  may  be  made  inquisitive,  inventive,  or  in- 
different, dulled,  and  conventional,  by  environ- 
ment. The  level  of  intelligence  in  society  may  be 
greatly  raised  or  lowered  according  to  culture 
conditions  and  of  these  conditions  machinery 
represents  one  of  the  most  potent.  If  in  large 
sections  of  the  population  there  is  a  demental- 
izing,  this  fact  becomes  of  great  importance,  for 
the  need  of  initiative  and  self-dependence  is 
great.  The  social  order  should  lend  itself  to  the 
development  and  availability  of  the  highest  pos- 
sible intelligence.  While  the  production  of 
wealth  is  of  fundamental  importance,  it  is  less 
important  than  the  preservation  of  conditions 
favorable  to  the  development  of  every  individual, 
and  indeed  in  the  long  run  even  the  production 
of  wealth  must  be  guaranteed  by  preserving  the 
most  favorable  conditions  of  individual  develop- 


Effect  of  Machinery  Upon  the  Mmd     71 

ment.  Society  does  not  profit  most  by  people 
who  are  routine  slaves,  dulled,  regimented,  and 
automatized.  Democracy  requires  the  develop- 
ment of  the  average  man.  Skilled  craftsmanship 
or  drudging  labor  may  alike  be  divorced  from 
general  ability  and  vital  knowledge  and  from 
those  mental  traits  and  habits  which  are  neces- 
sary for  the  good  of  a  people,  while  the  spread 
of  routine  throughout  all  sorts  of  occupations 
and  the  slight  demand  for  intelligence  in  the 
operation  of  perfected  devices  alike  constitute  a 
dementalizing  circumstance. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  LABOR 

INTELLIGENCE  may  be  judged  by  the  con- 
ditions with  which  one  is  content.  One  may 
labor  under  conditions  known  to  be  unsatisfac- 
tory but  over  which  one  has  little  if  any  control. 
But  if  the  conditions  under  which  large  numbers 
work  are  unjust  the  fact  is  an  indictment  of  the 
collective  intelligence  which  functions  in  govern- 
ment, for  government  determines,  actively  or 
passively,  all  social  conditions  not  chargeable 
to  nature  itself.  Are  prevailing  conditions  of 
labor  rational  and  acceptable? 

In  a  multitude  of  situations  today  the  spirit 
of  joyful  accomplishment  is  absent.  Freight 
cars  are  slammed  together  —  they  belong  to  the 
"  company."  Workmen  loiter,  and  the  comings 
and  goings  of  the  boss  are  noted  with  extreme 
interest.  The  ticket  agent  who  "  damns "  the 
railroad  upon  opening  his  envelope,  containing 
in  fact  a  slight  advance  in  wages,  reveals  a  state 
of  mind.  What  of  the  inner  strain  and  depres- 
sion of  employees  in  factories  when  they  — 

look  upon  their  employer   as   an   aristocrat,  their 
foreman  as  a  slave  driver,  their  machine  as  a  tread- 

72 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  73 

mill,  and  the  world  at  large  as  against  them   [and 
when]  their  faces  are  frozen  in  a  perpetual  grouch  ? 

1.  Recognition  of  the  Worker's  Interests 

Of  all  wastes  that  of  untapped  or  improperly 
tapped  reservoirs  of  human  energy  should  re- 
ceive first  consideration.  To  align  occupations 
with  the  currents  of  nerve  force  deserves  the 
attention  of  science,  not  alone  for  increase  of 
production,  but  especially  out  of  regard  for  the 
increase  of  the  sum  total  of  happiness,  for  the 
whole  world  labors  and  too  rarely  happily.  Dif- 
ferences in  zest  are  not  entirely  peculiar  to  the 
individual;  the  eager  employer  and  the  lagging 
crew  are  fundamentally  alike,  as  would  be  shown 
upon  exchange  of  places.  If  the  wheels  of  the 
world's  work  turn  slowly,  or  if,  when  they  turn, 
they  revolve  with  the  friction  of  joyless  effort, 
it  is  no  fault  of  original  nature,  for  that  nature 
is  a  dynamo  of  nerves  and  muscles  whose  very 
joy  is  exertion.  Of  course  the  world's  work,  at 
least  some  of  it,  gets  done;  but  how? 

A  large  part  of  modern  employment  is  an 
evident  maladjustment  to  the  worker.  Due  to 
technicalities  and  abnormalities  of  land  owner- 
ship or  transportation  or  profits,  the  factory 
worker  too  often  suffers  a  wearing  outrage  of 
instincts  by  being  confined  in  a  species  of  arti- 
ficial inferno.  The  division  of  labor  has  com- 
mitted the  toiler  to  a  monotony  of  task  which  is 


74  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

absolutely  without  warrant  in  his  psychological 
economy,  for  a  natural  environment  affords  a 
range  of  experiences  and  draws  upon  all  parts  of 
the  organism  rather  than  overtaxes  a  nerve  cen- 
ter or  set  of  muscles.  The  forced  production 
represented  by  slave  labor  and  the  difficulty  of 
getting  people  to  work  with  spirit  suggest  that 
there  has  been  historically  and  is  today  an  almost 
complete  neglect  of  the  organization  of  industry 
with  reference  to  natural  incentives.  People 
cannot  be  kept  from  working,  provided 
employment  corresponds  to  nervous  organiza- 
tion. Need  there  be  so  complete  a  divorce  be- 
tween spontaneity,  preference,  and  play,  and  the 
job? 

It  might  seem  difficult  to  introduce  into  a  sys- 
tem of  production  a  distinct  recognition  of  the 
natural  tendencies  of  experimentation,  curiosity, 
sociability,  leadership,  and  the  like,  but  only  by 
more  fully  conforming  to  natural  interests  may 
drudging  labor  be  transformed  into  joyful  ef- 
fort. For  example,  why  should  not  employees 
occasionally  travel,  even  if  more  goods  could  be 
made  and  sold  by  keeping  for  a  lifetime  one  man 
on  the  road  and  another  stationary?  A  larger 
recognition  of  natural  interests  and  capacities 
in  industrial  organization  would  involve  many 
changes,  but  it  is  beyond  dispute  that  the  demen- 
talizing  of  employees  by  monotony  and  the 
development  of  a  sizzling  animosity,  the  every- 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  75 

where  observed  discord  between  occupation  and 
interest,  the  hating  of  the  job,  bode  no  good. 
The  short  answer,  "Quit  your  kicking  or  get 
out,"  is  hardly  an  appropriate  one  to  the  problem 
of  irritating  conditions. 

2.  Motivation  in  the  Factory 

It  is  in  connection  with  the  sense  of  utility  and 
remuneration  that  the  problem  of  motivation 
becomes  most  acute.  Not  that  the  employee  of  a 
swollen  trust  sees  no  use  in  making  window  glass 
or  steel  billets;  the  social  use  of  manufactured 
goods  must  appeal  even  to  resentful  labor  —  bar- 
ring commodities  of  worthless  or  shoddy  charac- 
ter—  but  of  what  use  is  it  to  one  to  sow  that 
another  may  reap?  To  the  factory  hand  it  is  a 
sobering  thought  that  for  his  cents  others  take 
dollars.  "I  should  think  your  employees  would 
strike,"  said  an  unsophisticated  western  lawyer 
to  an  old-time  friend,  the  manager  of  a  textile 
factory  in  New  England,  on  being  told  that  the 
profits  of  the  concern  were  over  300  per  cent  the 
previous  year.  "They  would,  if  they  knew  it," 
was  the  reply.  A  recent  writer  of  conventional 
point  of  view  naively  remarks:  "The  size  of 
the  profit  per  unit  of  output  is  not  generally 
known  to  the  mechanical  departments."  1 

When   compensation  is   limited,   bearing  no 

1Hartness,  James,  The  Human  Factor  in  Works  Man- 
agement.   McGraw-Hill  Book  Co.,  New  York. 


76  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

equitable  relation  to  production  of  the  worker, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  incentive  to  labor  with 
enthusiasm ;  on  the  contrary,  to  a  thinking  per- 
son, there  are  strong  motives  not  to.  With 
emulation  planted  deep  in  the  nature  of  man, 
implying  an  eternal  struggle  for  equality,  it  can 
scarcely  be  expected  that  the  process  of  shaking 
the  bough  for  someone  else  to  get  the  apple  can 
be  lastingly  typical  of  production.  The  only 
peace  in  the  industrial  world  that  may  exist  under 
the  wage  system  depends  upon  not  letting  the 
employees  know  what  the  profits  are;  hence  the 
popularity  of  watered  stock  and  the  secrecy  of 
business  details.  The  suddenness  of  modern 
wealth-making  has  concurred  with  a  miracle  of 
inertia  on  the  part  of  the  general  public  to  post- 
pone the  day  of  reckoning,  and  the  preposterous 
abortion  of  the  present  distribution  of  wealth  is 
only  recently  producing  its  effects  upon 
emotions. 

The  current  disposition  to  identify  religion 
with  the  affairs  of  the  day  results  in  disinclina- 
tion to  rely  upon  the  righting  of  the  balance  in 
the  hereafter  through  the  difficulty  with  which 
the  rich  man  enters  heaven  as  compared  with  the 
welcome  to  the  expropriated.  The  employee  is 
willing  to  take  his  share  of  the  world's  goods  now, 
and  suffer  the  consequences,  though  the  idea  that 
poverty  is  a  blessing  has  a  longevity  which  is  but 
slowly  affected  by  actual  evidence  of  its  devastat- 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  77 

ing  character,  as  shown  in  the  operating  rooms 
of  hospitals,  in  stagnant  farm  homes,  in  the  aged 
faces  of  child  labor,  in  jaws  made  toothless  from 
lack  of  a  dentist's  services,  and  in  the  dulness 
and  bigotry  of  isolation  and  absence  of  books. 
The  impecunious  religious  enthusiast  of  old 
looked  forward  to  golden  streets,  in  the  mean- 
time being  disdainful  of  his  neighbor's  higher 
economic  status,  but  the  theoretical  ulterior  ad- 
vantages of  poverty  are  depreciated  when  the 
vital  functioning  of  wealth  for  welfare  appears 
at  every  turn.  Indeed  even  not  yet  fully  laid  is 
the  poor-student  myth;  that  anyone  should  be- 
lieve that  an  undernourished  youth  dividing  his 
daily  energy  between  hard  labor  and  studies 
should  thus  make  sure  of  laurels  is  about  as  rea- 
sonable as  to  expect  a  horse  from  a  laundry 
wagon  to  reach  the  wire  ahead  of  a  racer  in  the 
pink  of  condition. 

There  should  be  proper  and  sufficient  motiva- 
tion in  industry.  To  work  because  one  fears  to 
lose  a  position  is  a  low  condition,  and  the  dread 
of  the  displeasure  of  the  boss  reduces  one  to  the 
status  of  dumb  driven  cattle.  Even  to  spend  a 
lifetime  in  labor  for  the  sake  of  anticipating 
funeral  expenses  does  not  strike  one  as  adequate 
motivation.  There  must  be  sizable  returns  or 
explicit  approval ;  there  must  be  the  feeling  that 
one  is  getting  somewhere,  that  he  is  getting 
something  out  of  his  work  for  himself,  and  that 


78  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

every  stroke  tells.  To  exhort  one  to  love  his 
work  when  he  gets  nothing  out  of  it  is  unseemly. 
Our  systemless  compensation  leaves  the  great  bulk 
of  population  without  effective  incentive.  True, 
the  occasional  person  sees  an  opportunity  for  a 
"killing,"  and  his  community  is  afforded  the 
spectacle  of  a  man  really  in  earnest,  but  the 
average  workman,  and,  under  present  conditions, 
in  many  cases  the  governmental  or  civil  service 
employee  as  well,  suffers  from  lack  of  motive. 
The  proprietor  of  a  clothing  store  shows  a  real 
interest  in  selling  goods ;  but  his  clerks,  especially 
in  his  absence,  may  greet  the  incomer  with  a  look 
of  glazed  indifference;  yet  such  will  "yell  their 
heads  off  "  when  the  home  baseball  team  scores. 

An  argument  for  motivation  may  be  drawn 
from  the  case  of  the  small  farmer.  He  directs  his 
own  labor  and  feeling  that  he  is  free  is  really 
little  concerned  with  the  measure  of  gain ;  he  is 
"  independent,"  and  the  fact,  which  should  be 
disconcerting,  that  he  often  throws  in  his  labor 
to  obtain  such  a  return  on  his  capital  as,  other- 
wise invested,  he  might  secure  with  little  or  no 
labor,  impresses  him  but  slightly  —  he  is  his  own 
boss.  Indeed,  the  hope  of  securing  liberty  with 
a  few  acres  inspires  a  great  many  people  in  cities. 
Now  to  clamp  a  person  into  a  position  where  he 
neither  knows  how  much  he  produces,  but  is  sure 
that  his  compensation  will  in  any  event  be  a 
minimum  one,  nor  has  a  voice  in  the  management 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  79 

of  his  employment,  seems  a  peculiarly  obnoxious 
affront  to  personality,  and  "industrial  war"  is 
a  logical  result.  It  is  a  scientific  wonder  that  the 
gear  of  industry  does  not  clog  hopelessly  under 
these  conditions.  Industry  must  sooner  or  later 
answer  to  each  man  his  question,  Of  what  use  is 
it  to  me?  To  substantial,  rational,  and  satisfying 
rewards,  not  complicated  with  gross  advantage 
to  others,  the  productional  system  must  move 
forward,  presumably  through  occupational  au- 
tonomy, but  in  any  case  in  conformity  with  the 
psychology  of  motive. 

Where  there  is  a  feeling  of  injustice  in 
economic  relations,  where  there  is  imperfect  moti- 
vation for  effort,  a  spirit  of  indifference  and  pro- 
test develops  which  results  in  a  kind  of  sabotage. 
Sabotage  is  not  new ;  it  is  as  old  as  the  hills,  if 
by  it  be  meant  injury  to  the  quantity  as  well  as 
the  quality  of  the  product.  The  difference  in 
zeal  between  the  man  who  has  a  stake  in  the  out- 
come of  an  enterprise  and  one  who  believes  he 
has  none  is  so  wide  as  not  to  have  escaped  atten- 
tion the  world  over.  Soldiering  and  inefficiency 
are  characteristic  of  millions  today,  who  under 
a  different  industrial  organization  would  be  ener- 
getic and  optimistic.  A  subtle  sabotage  may  be 
discovered  in  a  thousand  quarters  —  the  waste  of 
materials,  neglect  of  tools  and  equipment,  and 
manifold  unwillingness  to  take  pains.  But  how 
idle  to  expect  the  employee  to  take  the  same 


80  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

degree  of  interest  as  the  employer,  if  the  latter 
reaps  preponderant  benefits. 

3.  Pleasure  in  World 

It  is  a  question  of  much  importance  whether 
real  pleasure  is  taken  in  work.  The  actual  mental 
attitudes  prevailing  among  people  working  for 
wages  and  salaries  are,  if  among  the  more  elusive, 
yet  among  the  most  important  conditions  of 
society.  If  there  is  chronic  discord  between  the 
man  and  his  job,  something  is  fundamentally 
wrong.  Even  in  cases  where  irritation  does  not 
take  the  shape  of  open  complaint,  a  seated  sense 
of  injustice  deeply  influences  happiness  on  earth. 
Young  men  set  out  in  high  hopes,  to  become 
soured  and  careless  upon  being  inoculated  with 
the  suspicion  that  a  square  deal  in  the  economic 
system  is  out  of  the  question.  They  see  great 
rewards  going  to  questionable  beneficiaries ;  they 
see  the  industrious  exploited ;  they  come  to  fear 
that  everything  worth  going  after  has  been  gob- 
bled up  by  the  representatives  of  privilege  and 
corporate  influence.  They  ask  if  it  is  worth 
while  to  try  to  get  ahead ;  they  believe  the  cards 
are  stacked  against  them.  The  rewards  which 
society  should  place  before  the  individual  should 
in  one  respect  be  like  the  penalties  for  crime  — 
they  should  be  certain. 

The  loosened  moral  fiber  of  great  numbers,  the 
flabby  attack  on  difficulties,  the  disposition  to  go 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  81 

with  the  current,  and  the  apparent  passing  away 
of  a  certain  Spartan  quality  of  perseverance  are 
associated  with  a  growing  skepticism  in  regard  to 
certainty  of  reward. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  the  so-called  shiftless. 
The  labor  market  is  full  of  men  who  lack  incen- 
tive ;  is  it  solely  their  fault  ?  But  shif tlessness  is 
bound  to  increase  with  intelligence  if  there  seems 
a  lessening  chance  of  success.  Is  the  spirit  of 
play,  of  adventure,  of  exploration,  of  wager,  if 
you  please,  lacking  in  those  who  make  up  the 
army  of  the  unemployed  and  of  those  who  merely 
mark  time?  Tenant  farmers  —  and  three-fifths 
of  the  farms  of  Illinois  are  operated  by  tenants 
—  are  notoriously  shiftless.  Shif  tlessness  would 
lessen  if  they  owned  the  land  and  did  not  expect 
to  be  robbed  in  the  market.  The  tenant  who  is 
thought  to  make  too  much  money  for  the  land- 
lord may  lose  caste.  It  is  less  a  wonder  that  so 
many  people  do  so  ill  than  that  in  the  absence  of 
appeal  to  effective  motives  so  many  do  so  well. 

It  may  be  argued  that  conditions  are  no  worse 
than  in  the  past ;  but  it  is  really  not  by  the  past 
that  the  sufficiency  of  motivation  should  be 
judged.  It  is  rather  by  the  possibility  of  releas- 
ing energy  and  joy  in  work  under  more  ideal 
conditions.  Work  has  been  a  "  curse,"  and  even 
now  the  great  majority,  barring,  among  others, 
artists,  Chautauqua  lecturers,  mothers,  and  dray 
drivers,  who  often  seem  to  be  enjoying  life,  seek 


82  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

their  pleasures  apart  from  the  employments  in 
which  their  lives  are  spent.  It  is  commonly  ac- 
cepted that  there  is  to  be  little  happiness  during 
working  hours ;  some  fleeting  digression  from 
occupation  is  looked  forward  to  as  the  justifica- 
tion for  industry,  and  vain  amusements  feebly 
fill  a  want  which  would  better  be  supplied  by 
pleasure  in  one's  tasks. 

4.  Fear  as  Motive 

Fear  is  still  a  dominant  motive;  fear  of  dis- 
charge, of  disgrace,  of  the  gun  man  and  the 
militia,  of  starvation.  The  masses  are  not  really 
inspirited  to  labor ;  they  are  driven  and  compelled 
under  a  fear  system  so  rooted  as  to  be  respect- 
able. Insufficiency  and  uncertainty  of  reward  are 
coupled  with  a  lagging  which  only  the  threat  of 
suffering  may  overcome.  But  fear  is  blasting 
in  its  effects,  even  if  men  are  so  wonted  as  not 
to  be  acutely  conscious  of  it.  The  stimulation 
to  effort  is  often  a  push  instead  of  a  pull,  but 
the  ideal  incentives  are  those  which  enlist  the 
individual  gladly  for  the  sake  of  an  objective 
clearly  seen  and  hopefully  sought.  Greater  open- 
ness of  opportunity  to  all  comers ;  less  privilege 
and  exploitation ;  a  fairer  field  and  fewer  favors ; 
more  certainty  of  that  social  approval  which 
consists  of  adequate  income;  better  adjustment 
between  desert  and  remuneration  — such  condi- 
tions would  put  spirit  and  joy  into  occupations 


The  Spirit  of  Labor  83 

and  would  advance  enterprise;  such  conditions 
would  be  a  sufficient  answer  to  time-honored  com- 
plaints in  regard  to  the  lack  of  interest  on  the 
part  of  labor.  If  only  the  world's  work  sprang 
from  its  hopes  and  ideals  rather  than  from  its 
fears ! 

In  view  of  the  actual  nature  of  people  —  the 
springs  of  action  —  one  can  hardly  deny  that 
modern  industrialism  represents  maladjustment 
between  work  and  the  man.  Occasional  employ- 
ers pride  themselves  upon  taking  into  account 
the  welfare  of  employees,  but  our  social  and 
industrial  standards  are  strangely  inverted  when 
the  happiness  of  the  worker  is  an  afterthought. 

It  is  possible  for  an  employee  to  labor  effi- 
ciently for  years  without  knowing  for  a  certainty 
that  his  work  is  appreciated.  What  a  state  of 
affairs,  when  the  very  breath  of  our  nostrils  is 
praise.  Consider  the  lack  of  honor  for  those  who 
do  dangerous  and  severe  work;  indifference  if 
not  contempt  is  often  their  portion. 

5.  Self -Government  in  Industry 

One  of  the  requirements  for  a  satisfying  life 
is  to  have  a  voice  in  management.  To  have  a 
voice  in  government  is  not  more  important  than 
to  have  a  voice  in  the  business  with  which  one  is 
connected.  But  the  autocratic  principle  prevails 
in  industry.  Democracy  is  yet  to  be  extended  to 
productive  enterprises.  The  boss,  the  superin- 


84?  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

tendent,  and  the  proprietor  have  the  same  sort 
of  relation  to  employees  as  autocrats  to  their 
subjects.  The  principle  of  self-government  is 
as  desirable  in  a  factory  as  in  a  state. 

As  great  as  is  the  unrest  of  labor  it  is  far  less 
than  autocracized  industry  warrants.  Those  who 
protest  are  still  in  the  minority.  There  are  still 
numbers  like  Daudet's  peasants  and  the  simple 
British  workingmen  whose  psychology  is  so 
clearly  described  by  Robert  Tressall.1  There 
must  be  a  wider  dissatisfaction  before  economic 
democracy  may  be  attained,  and  after  dissatis- 
faction there  are  problems  of  reorganization 
fully  as  onerous  and  complex  as  those  of  political 
democracy  now  in  process  of  solution. 

i  The  Eaffged-trousered  Philanthropists.    F.  A.  Stokes 
Co.,  New  York. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CONTROL  OF   SUGGESTION 

"PROGRESS  is  determined  largely  by  the 
•*.  thought-materials  which  are  brought  to  one's 
attention  or  which,  imbedded  in  environment, 
press  upon  the  individual  and  insensibly  shape 
his  outlook.  If  we  could  once  get  away  from  all 
that  is  undesirable  in  the  thought-world  and  move 
over  into  a  world  affording  only  the  best  sugges- 
tions and  ideals,  civilization  would  leap  forward. 

1.  Inheritance  of  Ideas 

Ideas  govern  action,  even  putting  a  clamp  on 
the  strongest  inherited  tendencies,  as  witness  the 
vows  of  religious  orders.  If  the  modern  world 
could  be  released  from  archaic  ideas  and  false 
notions,  and  in  their  place  installed  the  best 
thought  and  finest  ideals,  society  would  undergo 
swift  transformation.  The  trouble  is  in  clearing 
the  decks  and  giving  the  newer  thought  a  full 
opportunity.  Explore  the  mind  of  the  man  on 
the  seat  by  your  side,  and  you  will  perhaps  dis- 
cover a  flinty  prejudice  which  could  be  traced 
back  through  centuries  —  a  possession  drawn  out 
of  that  large  fund  of  atavistic  consciousness 
85 


86  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

which  science  in  all  its  pride  has  as  yet  but 
slightly  overcome. 

This  control  by  the  past  is  through  thought- 
materials  which  come  down  to  us  in  unbroken 
succession.  Early  in  life  one  becomes  saturated 
with  sentiments  and  opinions  from  former  gen- 
erations. These  adopted  ideas  govern  conduct 
and  establish  types  of  citizenship ;  they  determine 
attitude  with  reference  to  industry,  science,  and 
the  state ;  they  create  deference  for  ancient  insti- 
tutions, and  sanctify  imposition  and  caste.  To 
secure  a  fresh  civilization  —  radically  to  change 
conventional  ways  —  would  be  to  break  with  for- 
mer systems  of  thought  and  sets  of  concepts. 

The  kind  of  ideas  determines  the  kind  of 
man.  The  reactionary  is  a  reflex  of  a  system  of 
ideas  dominant  at  an  earlier  period ;  he,  for  ex- 
ample, looks  at  woman  suffrage  in  the  light  of 
former  periods  and  applies  obsolescent  concepts 
to  international  differences ;  his  concepts  are  sta- 
tionary while  society  is  dynamic ;  if  the  world 
could  be  turned  back  he  would  feel  at  home ; 
terms  like  labor,  capital,  patriotism,  thrift,  busi- 
ness, and  woman  have  each  a  different  meaning 
to  reactionary  and  progressive. 

The  basic  method  of  changing  conditions  is 
to  change  ideas.  The  best  views  are  often  of 
recent  origin,  for  the  older  thought  was  a  reflex 
of  an  older  social  order;  a  new  social  order  im- 
plies new  thought. 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  87 

It  is  not  easy  to  shake  off  tradition.  As  popu- 
lation has  flowed  down  the  ages,  there  has  been  a 
laying  on  of  hands  upon  the  young  in  more  senses 
than  one.  The  old  order  is  forever  indoctrinat- 
ing the  young  with  old  sets  of  ideas.  Fortu- 
nately, youthful  perversity  leads  to  differences 
of  opinion ;  cloyed  with  imitation,  the  child  does 
the  opposite  of  his  instructions  just  to  see  how 
it  will  seem.  A  certain  development  of  new 
thought  is  inevitable. 

A  slow-moving  transformation  of  ideas  takes 
place,  but  it  would  be  well  if  tradition  might  be 
more  effectually  blocked  and  if  progress-favor- 
ing ideas  might  be  sent  coursing  through  all  the 
channels  of  intelligence.  The  controlling  of 
ideas  is  the  battle  of  progress  the  world  over. 
Social  reconstruction  involves  displacing  certain 
ideas  with  others. 

It  would  be  idle  to  expect  to  secure  always 
quietly  and  peacefully  a  substitution  of  the  new 
for  the  old,  for  personal  advantage  is  derived 
from  tradition.  The  man  who  is  drawing  divi- 
dends from  the  ignorance  of  others  is  not  likely 
to  be  enthusiastic  for  enlightenment.  Privilege 
on  the  part  of  the  few  requires  a  corresponding 
education  to  servility  on  the  part  of  many.  So 
in  the  case  of  various  matters  in  dispute  agree- 
ment is  hopeless;  only  force  or  the  threat  of 
it  can  prevail.  But  outside  the  lines  of  eco- 
nomic warfare  there  may  be  general  agreement 


88  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

to    oppose  pernicious   and   encourage   salutary 
suggestion. 

In  cases  where  what  seems  evil  to  some  seems 
good  to  others  social  quarantine  can  hardly  be 
attempted,  and  a  multitude  of  differences  of 
opinion  appear  in  relation  to  values ;  but  assum- 
ing a  real  concurrence  among  the  majority  of 
thinking  people  with  reference  to  thought- 
materials,  the  protection  of  society  against  unde- 
sirable suggestions  is  as  logical  as  the  isolation 
of  smallpox.  It  is  well  known,  for  example,  that 
the  cheap  novel  which  exploits  the  crudeness  and 
crimes  of  desperadoes  ifc,  in  the  hands  of  boys, 
a  most  pernicious  influence.  Not  infrequently 
astonishing  crimes  are  directly  traceable  to  the 
reading  of  accounts  of  brigandage,  and  the  glori- 
fication of  lawless  adventurers.  Society  is  war- 
ranted in  defending  itself  against  ideas  that  have 
notoriously  unwholesome  effects. 

2.  Influence  of  Literature 

The  very  reservoir  of  ideas  inimical  to  an  ideal 
civilization  is  literature.  Writers  of  former  gen- 
erations lend  themselves  unwittingly  to  the  defeat 
of  the  visions  of  the  hour.  Poems  are  frequently 
a  source  of  suggestions  out  of  keeping  with  mod- 
ern aims.  "  The  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  " 
is  an  example.  War  is  irresistibly  sanctified  by 
a  type  of  literature  which,  false  and  misleading 
through  omissions  of  circumstances,  tends  to 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  89 

attach  the  highest  sentiments  to  a  brutalizing 
folly.  More  consistent  with  the  aims  of  peace 
are  Walt  Whitman's  "A  Night  Battle,"  and  the 
Matthew  Brady  photographs  of  the  Civil 
War. 

The  influence  of  the  monarch-revering  and 
laborer-despising  Elizabethan  play  is  a  real  force 
making  for  the  persistence  of  states  of  mind 
not  conducive  to  modern  welfare.  Early  litera- 
ture and  history  are  so  impregnated  with  socially 
atavistic  suggestions  that  a  new  literature  must 
batter  a  way  for  truer  democracy.  The  more 
impressive  pre-modern  literature  is  to  one,  the 
more  unlikely  is  he  to  be  found  sympathetic  with 
hopes  of  the  hour.  It  is  usual  to  side  with  the 
"  lord  of  the  vineyard  "  against  the  workers  who 
objected  to  paying  out  of  scale.  It  is  important 
that  the  reactions  of  the  youthful  reader  be  care- 
fully observed  when  perusing  material  which 
consorts  ill  with  fairness  to  the  Jew  or 
implies  the  unworthiness  of  those  who  do  physi- 
cal work. 

In  many  cases  the  reader  seems  to  react  but 
slightly  to  such  early  thought-materials  and 
would  hardly  admit  that  he  was  to  any  extent  con- 
trolled by  the  suggestions  received.  But  if  not 
affected  by  prescientific  ideas  of  the  universe, 
debased  conceptions  of  womankind,  the  theory  of 
human  depravity,  the  sanction  of  slavery,  and 
race  prejudice,  is  one  affected  by  any  other  kind 


90  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

of  suggestion?  All  suggestions  rest  upon  the 
same  psychological  basis.  The  idea  that  is  cen- 
tered in  consciousness  exerts  its  thrust  in  the 
direction  of  action  and  modifies  the  emotional 
life.  At  an  earlier  period  vivid  representations 
of  future  torment  gave  strength  to  the  arm  of 
persecution  and  resulted  in  peculiar  horrors.  If 
the  body  be  thought  of  as,  in  the  words  of  John 
Knox,  a  "wicked  carcase,"  and  if  "every  pros- 
pect pleases  and  only  man  is  vile,"  why  should 
there  be  any  particular  attention  to  sanitation? 
The  immense  and  cherished  literature  of  sacred 
song  and  story  includes  in  its  conglomerate  a 
mass  of  materials  strictly  characteristic  of  the 
mental  advancement  of  the  peoples  and  times  of 
their  origin,  and  a  process  of  sublimation  and 
restatement,  like  that  represented  in  the  new 
prayers  of  Walter  Rauschenbusch,  is  needed. 
Upon  the  extent  to  which  outworn  social  con- 
cepts are  supplanted  in  popular  thought  depends 
the  rate  of  progress.  Thus  the  shutting  of  the 
gates  against  a  flood  of  undesirable  tradition 
assumes  large  importance.  English  courts  did 
not  permit  butchers  to  sit  on  juries  in  capital 
cases ;  but  the  slaughterhouse  is  not  the  only 
source  of  suggestions  tending  to  indurate 
sympathies  and  degrade  conceptions  of  human 
nature. 

In  this  connection  may  be  noted  the  activities 
of  scholars  who  exploit  the  past  or  reconstruct 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  91 

former  historical  periods.  That  certain  events 
have  happened  is  not  sufficient  reason  for  calling 
universal  attention  to  them.  The  world  may  very 
well  forget  a  great  deal  that  has  occurred;  we 
progress  as  we  shift  attention  to  forward-looking 
matters.  Devotion  to  history,  unless  inspired  by 
the  desire  to  illuminate  modern  life,  has  but  lim- 
ited social  value.  The  historical  student  sees  ob- 
jections to  reforms  which  less  informed  men 
accomplish  through  unscholarly  optimism.  The 
predominance  of  historical  elements  in  one's 
thought  is  of  the  nature  of  a  disqualification  for 
the  attainment  of  newer  ideals.  If  one  reads  the 
memoirs  of  a  general  of  the  Civil  War  one's  mind 
will  be  given  a  reactionary  set.  Mark  Twain 
believed  that  the  South  was  greatly  harmed  by 
its  admiration  of  the  works  of  Sir  Walter  Scott. 

3.  Advertising  Good  Examples 

There  is  much  of  a  positive  character  to  be 
attempted  in  the  utilizing  of  the  force  of  sugges- 
tion. The  best  practices  and  the  most  significant 
steps  taken  for  progress  in  any  part  of  the  world 
might  well  be  systematically  called  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public.  This  type  of  constructive 
suggestion  is  illustrated  in  the  practice  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education  of  sending 
out  almost  daily  reports  of  educational  progress 
from  all  parts  of  the  nation  and  from  abroad. 
The  best  ideas  in  effect  anywhere  are  thus  directed 


98          The  "Psychology  of  Citizenship 

to  points  of  possible  application,  and  an  imita- 
tion instituted  which  may  shorten  the  period 
required  for  a  measure  of  advancement.  Similar 
efforts  in  other  fields  would  tend  to  do  away  with 
delays  in  the  attainment  of  better  conditions. 
The  advertising  of  good  examples  and  the  dif- 
fusing of  constructive  ideas  should  be  carried 
on  effectively  through  system. 

The  diffusion  of  constructive  civic  ideas  is 
fundamental  to  social  betterment.  Limited  rea- 
soning and  lack  of  creative  'imagination,  so  far 
as  they  exist,  make  it  necessary  that  means  be 
provided  to  reach  the  intelligence  which  do  not 
imply  mental  powers  above  the  average.  Social 
reform  requires  successful  appeal  to  the  millions 
in  whose  hands  rest  the  ballot  and  the  ratification 
of  programs.  Everywhere  arises  the  problem  of 
making  people  understand ;  at  this  point  reforms 
stumble  and  confusion  begins.  Kropotkin  de- 
clared that  the  Russian  peasant  was  capable  of 
understanding  any  social  principle  or  natural 
law,  provided  he  was  addressed  in  words  of  his 
vocabulary  and  the  person  making  the  explana- 
tion really  knew  what  he  was  talking  about.  This 
testimony  of  revolutionist  and  scholar  is  indeed 
significant.  However,  it  is  common  experience 
to  meet  with  discouragement  in  attempts  to  pro- 
mote measures  or  to  popularize  unfamiliar  top- 
ics, and  a  real  association  of  ideas  is  not  easily 
brought  about.  Booker  T.  Washington  tells  of 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  93 

a  Negro  who  was  convinced  in  conversation  of  the 
need  of  substituting  other  crops  for  cotton,  but 
when  finally  asked  what  crop  he  would  plant 
answered,  "  Cotton."  Principles  agreed  upon 
by  all  who  give  them  careful  and  disinterested 
thought  are  slow  in  finding  popular  acceptance. 
Ignorance  and  prejudice  long  hold  their  ground. 
Either  there  are  many  who  are  unequal  to  taking 
an  intelligent  part  in  social  direction  or  means  are 
yet  to  be  devised  by  which  latent  intelligence  may 
be  generously  set  free  for  such  purposes.  The 
state  of  civilization  reflects  popular  intelligence, 
but  the  full  power  of  this  rarely,  if  ever,  is 
evoked. 

4-  Use  of  Pictures 

To  secure  popular  response  with  the  least  ex- 
penditure of  energy  is  a  desideratum.  The  most 
open  avenues  of  influence  are  to  be  found  and 
used,  the  lines  of  least  resistance  followed.  The 
prominence  of  vision  among  the  senses  offers  a 
suggestion  for  directness  of  persuasion.  The 
clinching  evidence  is  that  one  "saw  it  with  his 
own  eyes."  Now  it  is  evident  that  the  voter  may 
not  see  with  his  own  eyes  the  elusive  brigandage 
of  monopoly  or  witness  the  progress  of  a  ten- 
million-dollar  battleship  from  the  tax  collector's 
office  to  the  junk  heap,  but  by  a  far  greater  resort 
to  pictorial  methods  a  convincing  knowledge  can 
be  imparted.  Literature  with  its  roundabout  sym- 


94  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

holism  is  quite  inferior  for  various  purposes  to 
the  picture-writing  which  historically  preceded  it. 
Illustrations  make  a  strong  appeal. 

Could  a  more  extensive  educational  picturature 
be  developed  as  a  substitute  for  verbal  symbolism 
the  response  of  the  average  mind  would  be 
greater.  Many  intelligent  people  do  not  care 
for  books,  never  having  acquired  the  racially 
recent  taste  for  looking  at  queer  marks  on  a  page 
and  trying  to  make  out  what  they  are  all  about. 
Where  such  callousness  is  encountered  the  resort 
to  the  picture  would  be  the  most  effective  alterna- 
tive in  default  of  oral  speech,  to  which  likewise 
the  picture  is  often  superior.  A  picture  of  a 
case  of  "phossy  jaw"  arouses  a  larger  response 
than  any  amount  of  verbal  statement.  The  pub- 
lic will  react  to  a  suitable  stimulus  —  it  cannot 
help  it  —  but  the  stimulus  must  be  one  which  con- 
forms to  mental  laws.  It  would  be  well  to  photo- 
graph every  social  maladjustment  by  way  of 
argument.  Unfortunately,  from  some  points  of 
view,  there  are  more  authors  than  artists,  and 
cameras  cost  more  than  pens  and  ink.  A  rogues' 
gallery  of  modern  evils,  supplemented  by  con- 
structive suggestions  pictorially  represented, 
would  have  possibilities.  Indeed,  extensive  use 
is  made  of  the  pictorial,  but  a  larger  and  more 
convenient  presentation  of  this  kind  of  material 
is  feasible. 

There  are  limits  to  the  effectiveness  of  pictures 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  95 

for  social  education,  but  it  would  appear  that 
their  possibilities  have  been  overshadowed  by  the 
use  of  print.  The  picture  method  is  vastly  more 
elemental  and  forceful,  and  might  be  adapted  to 
evoke  popular  responses  for  which  the  symbolism 
of  type  is  ineffectual.  True,  no  elaboration  of 
the  pictorial  could  ever  carry  the  subtle  and  the 
associational  so  successfully  as  words,  but  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  eye-minded  and  the  thinker 
in  abstractions  and  principles  may  well  be  taken 
into  account.  In  fact,  a  stage  may  be  reached 
where  the  illustration  becomes  even  a  slight  im- 
pertinence, the  statement  of  a  principle  carrying 
the  highest  degree  of  conviction ;  but  under  the 
conditions  of  the  day  there  is  need  of  presenting 
truths  in  such  telling  form  that  efforts  for  social 
welfare  be  based  as  broadly  as  may  be  upon  the 
consciousness  of  a  public  differing  widely  in 
mental  content  and  capacity.  The  formal  trea- 
tise and  the  philosophical  exposition  have  their 
peculiar  value,  but  the  limited  market  for  books 
that  are  "  dry  "  is  evidence  of  a  rather  permanent 
division  in  the  interests  of  the  reading  public, 
while  to  the  non-reading  public  the  specific  case 
and  the  visual  argument  are  the  principal  re- 
course. The  instant  response  of  millions  to  the 
moving  picture  creates  a  suspicion  that  reform 
has  quite  too  fully  relied  upon  a  relatively  unpop- 
ular method  —  that  of  printed  or  spoken  argu- 
ments. The  same  forces  of  perception  and  emo- 


96  The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

tion  which  now  so  often  go  to  waste  in  attention 
given  to  distressingly  weak  subject-matter  at  the 
cheap-show  place  might,  if  applied  to  social  ends, 
work  in  brief  time  advancement  which  otherwise 
would  require  centuries.  A  very  extensive  redi- 
rection of  human  forces,  which  so  richly  abound 
and  which  so  often  flow  aimlessly  to  waste,  is 
practicable.  One  is  frequently  surprised  at  the 
quickness  with  which  a  desirable  thought  will  take 
effect.  Control  images,  and  civilization  may  be 
made  to  approximate  any  ideal. 

5.  The  Slogan 

After  the  actual  picture  is  the  word-picture. 
The  economy  of  brief  statement  and  striking 
phrase  is  recognized  in  advertising,  and  the  joy 
of  discovering  a  suitable  slogan  is  known  to  cam- 
paign managers.  Brevity  and  imagery  charac- 
terize the  statement  on  which  reliance  is  placed 
to  secure  results  in  dividends  and  votes.  The 
spurty  nature  of  the  commercial  and  political 
war  cry,  while,  like  the  "tiresome  paradox,"  no 
source  of  lasting  enjoyment,  is  adapted  to  a 
flickering  attention  and  to  the  piecemeal  and  dis- 
continuous character  of  consciousness  in  modern 
life.  Brevity  is  forceful,  and  headline  logic  must 
play  an  important  role  in  social  reconstruction. 
For  example,  "  Idle  lands  for  idle  hands  "  per- 
haps could  hardly  be  improved  upon  as  crystal- 
lizing the  arguments  against  the  present  land 


The  Control  of  Suggestion  97 

tenure  in  England,  and  "  Votes  for  women  "  has 
a  telling  effect. 

To  be  sure,  the  slogan  is  not  without  its  draw- 
backs ;  for  every  slogan  there  may  be  a  counter- 
slogan,  and  the  reasoning  process  is  by  no  means 
obviated;  however,  the  succinct  presentation  of 
issues  conduces  to  their  profitable  consideration, 
and  indeed  when  a  position  is  not  susceptible  of 
direct  and  simple  statement  it  is  possibly  unten- 
able. A  claim  to  privilege  which  might  be  made  to 
seem  reputable  if  glossed  in  two  hours  of  oratory 
may  be  routed  by  a  single  "bombshell"  of  re- 
joinder or  a  clarifying  characterization.  The 
art  of  divesting  an  issue  of  irrelevancies  and  of 
presenting  truth  naked  and  unashamed  is  one  of 
real  respectability. 

There  is  economy  in  appealing  in  familiar 
terms.  To  bring  about  improvement  by  novel 
proposals  is  difficult,  but  when  the  new  comes  in 
familiar  guise  resistance  is  greatly  lessened.  The 
tendency  is  to  adapt  rather  than  invent,  to  modify 
rather  than  change  abruptly.  Merchants  retain 
goodwill  by  leaving  up  their  predecessors'  sign- 
board or  incorporating  under  a  dead  man's  name. 
Labels  must  be  satisfactory.  Political  leaders 
know  the  advantage  of  adapting  old  names  to 
new  organizations.  New  journeys  must  be  made 
by  seeming  to  follow  old  routes  where  familiar 
guide  boards  stand.  It  would  be  easier  to  arrive 
at  federal  banking  through  the  postal  savings 


98          The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

bank  than  by  a  more  direct  route.  To  do  away 
with  private  express  companies  by  the  gradual 
expansion  of  the  parcel  post  would  be  more  prac- 
ticable than  to  seek  this  result  at  a  step.  The 
free  feeding  of  school  children  could  hardly  come 
before  the  free  supplying  of  mental  pabulum  in 
the  form  of  community-owned  textbooks,  and 
before  that  the  community-paid  instructor.  The 
advance  toward  the  ideal  social  state  is  a  matter 
of  slow  campaigns.  The  thoroughgoing  theorist 
cannot  convince  the  public,  for  progress  is  made 
by  short,  tentative  steps  which  do  not  require  a 
high  degree  of  vision,  and  by  seeming  to  follow 
familiar  paths. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CIVIC  PUBLICITY  AND  THE  VOTER 

OPPOSITION  to  experimentation  and  change 
in  the  social  order  has  a  cause  in  a  sus- 
picion that  things  might  be  worse.  The  citizen 
often  has  little  confidence,  distrusting  his  own 
knowledge  and  that  of  others  with  regard  to  the 
social  machine.  Civic  ignorance  breeds  a  diffi- 
dence and  a  willingness  to  leave  matters  as  they 
are.  The  fullest  confidence  is  not  reposed  in 
public  agents  because  so  much  of  their  work  is 
not  generally  known.  A  better  attitude  would 
be  established  through  civic  publicity. 

1.  Reports  upon  Public  Affairs 

Civic  administration  is  work  for  the  expert, 
but  with  the  transfer  of  power  to  individuals 
there  is  the  danger  of  the  unobserved  abuse  of 
that  power,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  develop 
agencies  which  will  have  the  effect  of  placing 
public  servants  on  a  platform  of  observation  and 
in  a  light  which  leaves  nothing  to  the  darkness 
which  evil  loves.  Such  transparency  of  office  can 
be  secured  by  developing  official  publicity  far  be- 
yond its  present  stage.  True,  we  have  the 
reports  of  officials,  as  treasurers,  commissioners, 

99 


100        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

and  boards,  though,  for  example,  the  services  of 
a  congressman  are  not  formally  reported.  Prob- 
ably ninety-nine  constituents  out  of  a  hundred 
have  but  the  faintest  ideas  of  what  their  repre- 
sentatives actually  do.  This  is  due  less  to  the 
incapacity  of  constituents  to  understand  lan- 
guage than  to  the  absence  of  authentic,  skilful, 
and  ample  reporting. 

Moreover,  the  governmental  report  is  often 
unduly  difficult  to  comprehend,  and,  while  its  bulk 
may  assure  the  citizen  that  his  interests  are  amply 
protected,  its  obscure  recesses  discourage  even  the 
specialist.  The  art  of  reporting  official  acts  to 
the  general  public  is  not  much  developed.  Men 
are  needed  to  tell  of  the  work  of  the  various 
offices,  and  thus  lay  a  foundation  for  an  under- 
standing of  plans  of  improvement  and  of  an 
appreciation  of  exemplary  service. 

Even  the  laws  are  largely  unknown  by  the 
public.  While  every  citizen  is  presumed  to  know 
the  law,  no  one  believes  that  the  citizen  has  more 
than  an  inkling  of  the  laws  under  which  he  lives. 
To  learn  whether  a  city  has  a  given  ordinance 
may  entail  a  visit  to  the  city  hall  and  exploration 
of  a  poorly  arranged  mass  of  legislation.  Legis- 
latures ad j  ourn  after  sending  statutes  to  the  pub- 
lic printer,  with  little  concern  as  to  making  known 
to  the  citizen  what  laws  have  been  enacted.  The 
voting  public  is  a  board  of  directors,  but  could 
it  be  imagined  that  a  successful  private  corpora- 


Civic  Publicity  and  the  Voter          101 

tion  would  be  so  uninformed  in  regard  to  the 
activities  of  its  agents  as  is  the  voting  public? 
Every  significant  detail  of  social  administration 
should  be  flashed  upon  the  public  mind  through 
the  perfection  of  agencies  of  civic  publicity,  and 
the  limitations  of  attention  should  be  recognized 
in  ingenuity  of  reporting.  It  is  idle  to  expect 
the  citizen  to  be  himself  a  competent  collector 
of  that  information  which  he  must  possess  in 
order  to  vote  and  legislate  properly  at  the  polls. 
The  miscarriage  of  modern  politics  is  probably 
due  more  to  lack  of  civic  publicity  than  to  lack 
of  mentality  or  character. 

Of  special  interest  are  the  attempts  at  civic 
publicity  represented  by  the  municipal  journals 
of  Baltimore,  Los  Angeles,  San  Francisco, 
Denver,  New  York,  and  Tacoma.  The  voters' 
pamphlet  in  Oregon,  and  the  project  of  a  state 
journal  of  governmental  information  in  that 
commonwealth  show  an  awakening  to  the  need  of 
agencies  of  civic  communication  in  excess  of  those 
represented  by  the  private  newspaper,  whose  aims 
and  interests  render  it  not  the  most  useful  or 
perfect  medium  of  political  intelligence.  The 
universities  should  train  men  and  women  in  the 
technique  and  ideals  of  civic  journalism.  Prob- 
ably most  voters  need  only  to  know  the  sensible 
thing  to  do  it,  and  only  from  lack  of  information 
vote  incompetents  into  office  or  respond  to  dis- 
ingenuous appeals  which  result  in  legislation 


102         The.  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

deviously    contradicting    their    most    cherished 
interests. 

0.  The  Uninformed  Voter 

Much  is  said  first  or  last  —  or  left  unsaid  —  in 
regard  to  the  ignorant  voter.  With  over  five  mil- 
lion illiterates  in  the  United  States,  there  is  a  vast 
amount  of  ignorance  in  regard  to  general  sub- 
jects and  an  amount  of  ignorance  in  regard  to 
civic  matters  which  should  be  alarming.  But  the 
essential  consideration  is  whether  ignorance  rep- 
resents mental  incapacity  in  many  cases  or  merely 
lack  of  information.  It  is  probable  that  the  gen- 
eral and  civic  ignorance  of  the  illiterate  and  the 
civic  ignorance  prevailing  among  literates  are 
but  rarely  due  to  lack  of  ordinary  capacity.  The 
average  citizen  would  be  found  able  to  reach  up 
to  the  point  where  the  functions  of  the  civic 
expert  should  begin.  It  is  important  that  the 
special  knowledge  which  functions  in  good  citi- 
zenship be  widely  diffused  and  that  there  be 
actual  preparation  for  civic  responsibilities. 

The  idea  that  ballots  should  be  weighed  rather 
than  counted  is  likely  to  occur  to  one  when  in- 
stances of  civic  ignorance  come  under  observa- 
tion. It  is  not  pleasant  to  realize  that  the  most 
judicious  exercise  of  the  ballot  may  be  neutral- 
ized by  the  vote  of  the  individual  who  would  not 
appear  at  the  polls  except  for  the  diversion  of  a 
free  ride.  The  value  of  some  ballots  is  vastly 


Civic  Publicity  and  the  Voter         108 

greater  than  of  others ;  there  are  the  widest  dif- 
ferences in  the  actual  qualifications  of  voters  to 
make  intelligent  decisions.  There  are  differences 
in  age,  experience,  traditions,  mentality,  and 
specific  information.  Statutory  equality  by  no 
means  implies  equivalence  of  fitness,  and  in  fact 
the  exclusion  from  the  ballot  of  all  below  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  and  of  women  would  indicate 
that  prevailing  tests  of  fitness  are  far  from  exact. 
Who  should  vote?  What  qualifies  a  person  to 
vote  ? 

Evidently  one  should  know  the  subject-matter 
of  elections  —  issues,  candidates,  measures,  po- 
litical conditions,  and  the  trend  of  society.  One 
should  have  a  preparation  comparable  to  that 
which  would  warrant  expressing  an  opinion  on 
architecture,  sanitation,  engineering,  agriculture, 
or  poetry.  If  issues  have  been  reduced  to  sim- 
plicity and  there  is  a  leadership  in  which  confi- 
dence may  justly  be  reposed,  a  minimum  of  social 
science  may  serve,  by  making  use  of  the  analyti- 
cal powers  of  others.  A  person  who  would  fail 
in  every  test  of  specific  information  might  vote 
right  from  intuition  or  by  accident,  but  the  test 
of  information  is  one  which  is  relied  upon  in 
judging  the  qualifications  of  physicians,  pilots, 
chemists,  and  postal  clerks,  and  it  evidently  should 
have  exceptional  weight  in  ascertaining  fitness  to 
fill  the  position  of  voting  citizen. 

But  how  could  a  mental  test  be  applied  ?    While 


104        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

there  is  a  sentiment  in  favor  of  educational  tests 
for  voters,  and  in  at  least  one  state  (North 
Dakota)  the  constitution  enjoins  upon  the  legis- 
lature the  duty  of  establishing  educational  tests, 
practical  difficulties  interpose.  Yet  no  one  can 
question  the  need  of  distinguishing  between  fit- 
ness and  unfitness.  With  constitutional  amend- 
ments and  measures  in  detail  coming  before  the 
electorate,  especially  under  direct  legislation,  it 
is  reasonable  that  the  civic  board  of  directors, 
which  is  the  collective  body  of  voters,  should  be 
admitted  to  the  exercise  of  their  function  only 
upon  proof  of  competence. 

3.  Is  an  Educational  Test  Feasible? 

Fortunately  an  effectual  educational  test  is 
within  easy  reach  and  indeed  is  in  process  of 
realization.  The  submission  of  specific  measuresl 
as  under  the  initiative  and  referendum,  tends  to 
make  voting  difficult,  requiring  not  only  interest 
but  attention  and  reasoning.  Heretofore  voting 
has  required  the  barest  minimum  of  information. 
But  with  a  ballot  containing  matter  which  must 
be  read  with  attention  to  be  understood,  and  with 
the  relegation  of  partisan  and  personal  consid- 
erations, voting  becomes  a  feat  of  slight  appeal 
to  any  who  are  not  conscious  of  the  nature  of 
public  questions.  A  weeding  out  in  the  electorate 
accordingly  results,  as  witness  the  diminishing 
vote  of  Wisconsin  under  direct  primaries  and 


Civic  Publicity  and  the  Voter         105 

direct  legislation.  The  relatively  small  vote 
usually  cast  upon  constitutional  amendments  and 
city  charters  when  submitted  to  the  electorate  is 
evidently  not  due  to  their  unimportance  but 
rather  to  the  absence  of  an  interest  derived  from 
knowledge.  There  is  an  inevitable  mental  test 
when  measures  are  submitted  to  voters,  and  a 
diminished  vote  may  be  construed  as  meaning 
that  a  stimulus  is  being  applied  which  should 
result  in  citizens  studying  more.  The  person  who 
knows  nothing  about  the  merits  of  a  proposal 
on  his  ballot  will  naturally  not  vote  on  it,  thus 
becoming  automatically  disqualified  by  igno- 
rance. Mechanical  voting,  even  for  candidates, 
should  be  rendered  unlikely  or  impossible. 

While  perhaps  sufficient  difficulties  are  inherent 
in  direct  legislation,  surely  no  predigestion  of 
subject-matter  should  be  attempted  in  behalf  of 
those,  no  matter  how  large  their  numbers  among 
rich  or  poor,  male  or  female,  who  are  indolent, 
careless,  illiterate,  or  incompetent.  The  intelli- 
gent and  thoughtful  should  rule,  and  civic  incom- 
petence should  not  be  afforded  an  opportunity  to 
vote  by  means  of  a  ballot  so  designed  as  to  allow 
voting  to  be  an  unthinking  process.  Voting  has 
been  much  too  easy.  The  man  who  conscien- 
tiously follows  political  questions  should  not 
have  his  vote  counteracted  by  that  of  one  indif- 
ferent to  public  affairs.  The  inequitable  charac- 
ter of  easy  balloting  is  evident,  for  the  person 


106         The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

who  takes  pains  to  inform  himself  is  not  rewarded 
by  a  larger  measure  of  participation.  With  the 
ballot  itself  so  devised  as  to  be  an  educational 
test  every  citizen  fitted  to  vote  has  the  privilege, 
and  disqualification  may  be  removed  by  effort. 
Voting  should  necessitate  reading  and  under- 
standing whatever  might  appear  as  an  educa- 
tional test  upon  the  ballot. 

Inasmuch  as  one's  interest  in  a  subject  is  closely 
related  to  his  knowledge  of  it,  the  actual  number 
of  those  voting  upon  a  measure  would  approxi- 
mate the  number  of  voters  really  prepared  to 
vote,  and  the  smallness  of  the  number  of  votes 
cast  should  not  be  at  all  disconcerting.  Such  pro- 
vision of  law,  as  that  of  the  constitution  of  the 
state  of  Minnesota,  which  requires  that  a  high 
percentage  of  the  electorate  must  ballot  upon 
proposed  constitutional  amendments  for  a  valid 
decision,  are  of  doubtful  wisdom,  especially  if 
adequate  provision  is  made  for  publicity  with 
reference  to  pending  measures.  When  once 
freely  informed  of  issues,  the  individual  who  does 
not  vote  may  wisely  in  most  cases  be  thought  to 
be  lacking  in  those  qualities  which  should  count 
for  most  in  elections,  and  the  smallness  of  the 
number  balloting  be  regarded  as  good  evidence 
of  its  select  character.  Surely  the  right  to  vote 
should  be  contingent  upon  the  correlated  duty 
of  knowing  upon  what  one  is  voting ;  it  is  a  com- 
mon rule  that  one  should  know  what  he  is  doing. 


.   Civic  Publicity  and  ihe  Voter         107 

No  educational  test  would  work  properly  in 
the  absence  of  stringent  enforcement  of  corrupt- 
practices  acts.  The  citizen  who  has  so  little  in- 
terest and  information  as  not  to  go  to  the  polls 
of  his  own  volition  should  not  be  solicited.  That 
one  should  have  to  be  urged  to  vote  indicates  that 
his  ballot  might  safely  be  dispensed  with.  Im- 
proper solicitation  of  votes  should  be  made  im- 
possible, and  the  few  worthy  citizens  who  forget 
election  days  if  not  sent  for  might  well  be  a 
sacrifice  to  the  general  cause.  Under  the  fore- 
going conditions  balloting  would  take  on  a  char- 
acter of  distinction,  and  the  seriousness  of  an 
examination  for  the  credentials  of  the  profession 
would  to  a  degree  appear. 

The  questions  of  Negro  and  woman  suffrage 
would  easily  be  resolved  under  the  principle  of 
mental  fitness.  Such  Negroes  and  such  women, 
and,  as  well,  such  present  voters,  as  whose  ca- 
pacity and  information  qualified  them  to  vote, 
would  realize  the  right.  The  line  of  separation 
between  voters  and  non-voters  would  not  be  arti- 
ficially drawn,  but  would  nearly  coincide  with 
actual  fitness.  Thus  there  would  be  every  incen- 
tive to  qualify,  and  no  one  would  be  excluded 
from  voting  except  for  reasons  under  his  con- 
trol. 

The  submission  of  propositions  under  direct 
legislation  stimulates  civic  intelligence.  If  bal- 
loting be  merely  upon  names,  perhaps  followed 


108        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

by  party  symbols  to  guide  the  uninformed,  as 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  there  is  less 
incentive  to  study  civic  questions.  Voting  upon 
definite  proposals  encourages  a  study  of  govern- 
ment. The  submission  of  question  after  question 
to  the  electorate,  perhaps  with  greater  frequency 
of  votings  during  the  year,  would  connect  public 
opinion  directly  with  government  and  result  in 
a  far  higher  level  of  civic  intelligence.  Incal- 
culable stimulus  would  result  from  balloting  upon 
propositions  for  representatives  to  carry  out 
rather  than  merely  for  representatives.  To  be 
limited  to  voting  for  candidates  when  there  are 
scores  of  issues  upon  which  many  voters  would 
like  to  express  themselves  dulls  interest  in  public 
affairs. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  LEGAL  MIND 

psychology  of  the  bench  and  bar  is  espe- 
J-  cially  important  because  of  the  large  part 
played  by  the  courts  in  shaping  civilization.  The 
United  States  is  in  a  sense  under  a  commission 
form  of  government,  the  commission  consisting 
of  the  federal  Supreme  Court,  with  its  power 
over  legislation.  The  power  of  the  judiciary  is 
immense  and  determinative.  And  when  we  group 
bar  with  bench  the  character  of  prevailing  mental 
states  becomes  a  matter  of  great  importance. 
Attorneys  are  of  a  type  with  judges,  and  the  legal 
mind  has  marked  characteristics. 

1.  The  Rule  of  Precedent 

Law  represents  a  continuity  with  the  past 
like  that  of  few  other  occupations.  The  lawyer's 
training  harks  back  to  early  English  and  Roman 
law.  Of  much  influence  is  the  study  of  cases, 
of  varying  antiquity  or  recency,  from  which 
points  of  view  are  derived  and  bearings  estab- 
lished, and  by  which  the  mind  is  shaped  into  con- 
formity with  legalistic  ideals.  The  full  force 
of  legal  tradition  is  brought  to  bear,  both  in 
schools  of  law  and  through  association  with  the 

109 


110        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


elders,  upon  the  naked  natures  of  young  men 
and  a  distinct  mentality  results,  characterized  by 
logical  structure,  subtlety,  and  conservatism. 

Compare,  for  example,  the  training  of  the 
student  of  science  with  that  of  the  law  student. 
The  former  is  led  to  believe  that  experimenta- 
tion is  the  key  to  truth,  and  the  older  a  text- 
book the  less  authoritative  is  it  regarded.  Ideas 
are  discarded  with  actual  fervor,  and  stiff  ortho- 
doxy is  impossible.  In  scientific  learning  the 
spirit  is  that  of  progressive  adjustment;  in  law 
this  spirit  is  not  dominant  —  quite  the  reverse. 
Indeed,  the  weight  of  tradition  in  the  law  gives 
the  legal  mind  a  quality  which  tends  to  freeze 
society  into  static  conditions.  Emphasis  upon 
the  application  of  rules  to  social  problems  does 
not  accord  with  forward-looking  tendencies.  The 
role  of  remembering  how  things  have  been  done 
and  of  striving  to  apply  possibly  inappropriate 
rules  to  current  affairs  limits  outlook. 

What  is  perfectly  possible  may  be  legally  im- 
possible, and  what  is  legal  may  to  the  layman 
appear  unreasonable.  Rules  of  evidence  have 
wandered  so  far  from  rationality  that  young 
attorneys  are  advised  not  to  try  to  see  the  rea- 
son for  some  of  them  but  to  remember  them  as 
they  are.  One  must  renounce  the  world  as  he 
knows  it  in  order  to  attain  the  legal  cosmos.  The 
real  world  and  the  judicial  world  conflict  the  mo- 
ment one  brings  social  and  moral  ideals  into  the 


The  Legal  Mind  111 

atmosphere  of  the  law ;  a  professor  of  law  once 
remarked  to  his  students,  "You  are  here  not  to 
learn  what  the  law  ought  to  be  but  to  find  out 
what  the  law  is." 

Possibly  the  root  of  such  opposition  of  law  to 
progress  is  in  the  attempt  to  reduce  to  settled  con- 
cepts a  social  flux.  The  notion  that  law  is  a 
science  —  in  the  sense  in  which  physics  or  chem- 
istry is  a  science  —  is  misleading,  and  to  apply 
the  word  science  to  a  subject-matter  consisting, 
under  progressive  conditions  in  society,  of  tran- 
sient expedients  and  adjustments  and  halfway 
places  introduces  error.  Hydrogen,  two  parts, 
and  oxygen,  one  part,  form  water ;  but  rage  and 
a  knife  do  not  equate  perfectly  with  fourteen 
years  in  a  penitentiary.  Seeming  inconsistency 
is  not  incompatible  with  justice.  Rules  are  prop- 
erly subordinate  to  discrimination.  But  it  is 
objected  that  with  discretion  enthroned  no  one 
would  know  the  law ;  who  knows  it  now  ? 

The  fixedness  of  the  law  is  its  undoing.  It  is 
not  from  an  earlier  social  order  that  we  should 
seek  guidance  for  present  relationships;  more- 
over, various  legal  positions  and  doctrines  have 
the  dubious  ancestry  of  privilege.  Only  such 
former  decisions  as  are  approved  by  modern 
thought  have  any  authority  —  and  these  merely 
through  the  accident  of  concurrence.  Cases 
should  be  subjected  to  fresh  thought  and  their 
disposition  be  made  to  square  with  present  stand- 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


ards.  The  law  is  not  more  reputable  than  the 
circumstances  of  its  origin,  reflecting,  it  may  be, 
the  unjust  power  of  lords  of  manors,  holders 
of  royal  patents,  owners  of  sailing  vessels,  mas- 
ters of  servants  and  apprentices,  and  husbands. 
The  discord  between  ethics  and  "what  the  law 
allows  "  is  notorious.  Even  the  ideal  of  one  law 
for  the  poor  and  the  rich  is  open  to  criticism. 
What  fairness,  for  example,  in  applying  the  same 
anti-trust  law  to  grimy  and  poverty-stricken 
coal  miners  and  to  a  billion-dollar  monopoly? 
Worthy  judges  are  not  rare;  but  to  the  extent 
of  their  excellence  they  dare  excursions  into  the 
world  of  today  and  tomorrow. 

2.  Lawyers  and  Society 

The  type  of  learning  most  needed  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  is  that  represented  by  the 
social  sciences,  especially  those  applications  of 
sociology  which  deal  with  actual  conditions  among 
laborers,  wives,  children,  and  other  classes.  The 
recent  recommendation  of  the  American  Bar 
Association  that  law  students  be  required  to  pur- 
sue the  study  of  psychology  indicates  an  awaken- 
ing ;  for  the  examination  of  witnesses  is  a  matter 
rather  for  a  psychological  clinic  than  for  de- 
nunciation and  oratory.  In  fact,  oratory  and 
tradition  have  conspired  to  render  the  legal  pro- 
fession, with  its  nearness  to  legislation,  especially 
in  the  United  States,  an  obstacle  to  public  wel- 


The  Legal  Mmd  113 

fare.  The  striking  progress  in  government  in 
New  Zealand  has  been  explained  as  being  due 
in  part  to  the  almost  total  absence  of  lawyers 
from  the  parliament  of  that  country.  A  fresh 
view  of  human  possibilities  is  a  high  qualification 
for  service  in  a  legislature.  To  serve  at  impor- 
tant points  in  the  administration  of  justice,  would 
it  not  be  well  to  seek  men  and  women  who  should 
follow  the  advice  of  former  Judge  Gaynor  to 
throw  away  law  books  for  the  reading  of  Brown- 
ing? The  presence  of  "  lay  judges  " — to  repre- 
sent the  non-legal  point  of  view  —  provided  such 
were  to  consist  of  eminent  publicists,  sociologists, 
educators,  journalists,  and  social  workers,  men 
and  women,  would  prove  a  corrective. 

Moreover,  conditions  prevailing  in  courts  do 
not  lend  themselves  happily  to  actual  justice. 
Litigants  are  aggressive,  and  attorneys  are  not 
engaged  to  report  after  the  manner  of  the  scien- 
tific investigator.  When  ingenious  and  hardened 
advocates  are  fabulously  financed  to  circumvent 
justice  when  necessary  for  private  advantage,  and 
when  successful  subterfuge  reacts  to  the  fame  of 
the  advocate,  there  is  real  confusion.  Not  thus 
are  scientific  issues  resolved.  The  attorney  should 
be  a  real  officer  or  agent  of  court,  paid  by  so- 
ciety. The  pronounced  forwardness  on  the  part 
of  retained  attorneys  is  an  impertinence.  The 
German  system  of  people's  courts  without  law- 
yers represents  a  triumph  of  method,  and  the 


114*        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

recently  established  lawyerless  courts  of  Kansas 
afford  profitable  suggestions. 

Prejudiced  advocacy,  characteristic  of  the  bar, 
is  not  confined  to  the  courts,  but  in  part  through 
legal  example  perverts  behavior  elsewhere.  Thus 
the  college  debating  team  elects  as  its  aim,  not 
the  impartial  revealing  of  the  merits  of  an  issue, 
but  rather  the  adroit  presentation  of  "  one  side  " 
of  a  question,  and  to  beat  the  opposing  group 
of  advocates  is  the  prime  consideration.  In  the 
course  of  such  partisan  strife  the  truth  may  be 
forced  out  —  but  not  for  its  own  sake  with  the 
consent  of  either  team.  From  the  standpoint  of 
veracity  better  that  all  such  debates  be  banished, 
and  in  their  place  be  discussions  in  which  issues 
would  not  be  treated  speciously.  To  hold  a  brief 
is  disreputable  in  scientific  circles,  for  it  does 
not  conduce  to  the  whole  truth. 

In  various  ways  the  courts  and  the  legal  pro- 
fession are  allied  with  reaction.  Within  their 
spheres  of  freedom  the  choices  are  usually  in 
favor  of  things  as  they  are.  They  oppose 
change.  The  preponderance  of  tradition,  evi- 
denced in  legal  ideals,  practice,  and  reasoning, 
presents  an  acute  problem  in  the  psychology  of 
habit,  and  to  the  effective  rupture  of  such  bonds 
to  an  earlier  social  order  the  spirit  of  the  age 
in  some  way  must  address  itself. 

Courts  may  be  dislodged,  through  the  recall 
of  judges  or  of  decisions,  from  their  positions  of 


The  Legal  Mind  115 

ultimate  influence  upon  legislation  and  social  wel- 
fare, or  on  the  other  hand  a  system  of  training 
judges  and  attorneys  might  be  installed  which 
would  modify  the  obstructionistic  nature  of  the 
law,  doing  away  with  antiquated  concepts,  sacred 
rituals,  and  deteriorated  wisdom.  The  socializing 
of  the  lawyer's  functions  as  in  the  public  law 
office  of  New  Zealand,  where  the  citizen  may 
secure  legal  advice  from  a  state-paid  official,  is 
desirable.  Today,  under  the  system  of  fee- 
taking,  the  average  citizen  is  not  quite  sure 
whether  the  lawyer  is  a  curse  or  a  blessing.  The 
bulwarks  of  privilege  and  social  atavism  repre- 
sented by  the  legal  mind  deny  the  modern  spirit 
free  expression.  The  diversion  and  unworthy 
devotion  of  talents  appearing  in  the  retaining  of 
a  swarm  of  the  keenest  minds  in  the  service  of 
predatory  wealth  —  essentially  in  a  battle  against 
the  poor  —  represents  an  impressive  miscarriage 
of  a  mentality  which  should  be  harnessed  to  social 
welfare,  and  creates  a  condition  against  which 
the  more  idealistic  of  the  legal  profession  must 
rebel. 

Lawyers  need  a  thoroughly  modern  education, 
which  means  that  they  should  not  study  too  much 
law.  They  need  to  get  the  biological  or  evolu- 
tionary point  of  view,  to  conceive  of  society  as 
on  the  way  to  being  different.  The  authoritative 
solemnity  of  the  legalist  needs  to  be  mitigated; 
justice  does  not  reside  in  the  breasts  of  judges 


116         The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

unless  judges  look  upon  life  unfettered  by  tradi- 
tion. There  is  a  better  intelligence  than  that 
represented  by  the  law.  There  is  a  valid  idealism 
which  is  everywhere  blocked  by  legalism.  It 
is  unfair  to  measure  the  intelligence  of  a  people 
by  their  institutions  provided  a  tradition-rever- 
ing type  is  in  a  position  to  apply  a  strangle- 
hold on  new  thought  through  power  to  interpret 
and  to  pass  on  the  constitutionality  of  laws.  With 
government  thus  subject  to  the  legal  mind,  popu- 
lar intelligence  cannot  function  happily. 

3.  Experimental  Legislation 

The  legal  point  of  view  is  seen  in  the  citizen 
who  opposes  experimental  legislation.  To  ex- 
periment in  affairs  of  state  is  regarded  as  ob- 
jectionable, and  to  style  a  measure  an  experiment 
is  intended  as  an  argument  in  opposition.  From 
a  scientific  point  of  view  this  aversion  is  an 
anomaly.  Why  should  there  not  be  experimenta- 
tion in  social  administration?  There  is  a  sus- 
picion that  objection  is  often  from  fear  lest 
novelty  should  prove  a  success,  to  the  abatement 
of  privilege ;  but  quite  aside  from  selfish  strategy 
there  is  no  doubt  a  real  opposition  or  indifference 
with  reference  to  the  adoption  of  laboratory 
methods  in  civic  affairs. 

To  be  sure,  the  subject-matter  of  society  is 
less  amenable  to  convenient  experimental  treat- 
ment than  are  acid  soils  or  guinea  pigs;  even 


The  Legal  Mmd  117 

so  it  should  be  possible  to  study  social  reactions 
under  experimental  conditions.  Whenever  an 
opportunity  presents  itself  gratuitously  for  a 
study  in  government,  be  it  the  recall  of  judges 
in  Arizona  or  the  single  tax  in  cities  of  the 
Canadian  northwest,  let  the  most  be  made  of  it. 
Indeed,  let  it  be  urged  as  a  reason  for  proposals 
that  they  are  experiments.  That  the  light  of 
the  past  should  be  the  only  guide  is  a  confession 
which  in  the  field  of  science  would  discredit  the 
proclaimer;  the  light  of  theory  and  trial  is  also 
a  strong  light. 

A  desire  for  repose  and  a  settled  order  no  doubt 
contributes  to  the  feeling  that  there  should  be 
no  tinkering  with  laws.  New  measures  are 
adopted  with  hesitation,  and  a  common  attitude 
of  mind  is  that  a  measure,  once  accepted,  should 
remain  unchanged.  The  proposal  to  limit  legis- 
lative sessions  to  rare  intervals  seems  quite  op- 
posed to  the  spirit  of  experiment. 

A  vast  amount  of  futile  talk  would  be  dis- 
placed by  the  simple  expedient  of  trying  pro- 
posals for  improvements  in  civic  administration ; 
there  would  be  less  occasion  to  "  view  with  alarm  " 
if  it  were  commonly  accepted  that  in  case  an 
experiment  turned  out  poorly  there  should  be  a 
return  to  practice.  Does  the  abolition  of  capital 
punishment  in  one  state  increase  murder  therein 
as  against  another  state  in  like  circumstances? 
Let  an  experiment  be  tried  to  find  out.  It  is 


118         The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

better  that  a  homicide  should  live  than  that 
doubt  should  exist.  Is  the  commission  form  of 
government  applicable  to  states?  We  should 
rejoice  if  a  given  state  has  the  seeming  temerity 
to  try  it.  An  experiment  could  not  be  less  un- 
desirable than  uncertainty.  Would  votes  for 
women  "ruin  the  home"?  Observation  should 
decide,  not  speculation.  Is  a  two-cent  rate  on 
railroads  impossible,  or  even  a  lower  rate?  The 
answer  is,  try  it.  Would  the  country  go  to  the 
dogs  if  life  insurance  were  offered  by  a  com- 
monwealth? We  should  indeed  be  appreciative 
of  the  spirit  which  gains  for  Oregon,  Wisconsin, 
and  New  Zealand  the  reputation  of  being  experi- 
ment stations  in  government.  It  would  be  bet- 
ter that  Congress  should  guarantee  against  want 
the  owners  of  the  steel  trust  than  that  doubt 
should  remain  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  duty  to 
protect  its  products.  Let  us  gather  the  facts 
even  as  truth  is  sought  in  the  laboratories  of  the 
chemist  and  the  bacteriologist.  It  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  when  benzoate  of  soda,  under  a  pure- 
food  law,  becomes  a  political  rather  than  a  chemi- 
cal term,  self-interest  will  oppose  and  confuse ; 
but  there  is  no  good  reason  why  a  few  should 
be  allowed  to  block  attempts  to  find  the  best  ways 
of  doing  things.  Possibly  the  great  advances 
in  natural  and  physical  science  have  come  about 
so  readily  because  of  the  negligibility  of  the 
cross  fire  to  which  scientists  have  been  subjected. 


The  Legal  Mind  119 

In  case  of  governmental  experimentation,  how- 
ever, there  is  present  the  bad  boy  of  big  business 
to  break  the  microscopes  and  spill  the  cultures  of 
tentative  reform.  But  the  inductive  method  is 
a  rock  and  refuge. 

The  device  of  permissive  laws  is  useful  in  in- 
troducing novelty.  Let  the  people  of  a  civil 
division  be  at  liberty  to  experiment.  The  terms 
of  a  law  may  be  made  to  apply  at  the  discretion 
of  those  concerned. 

The  spirit  of  experimentation  characterizes 
some  occupations  rather  than  others,  and  the  ad- 
vantage of  having  legislation,  so  far  as  it  is 
conducted  by  chosen  bodies,  directed  by  men 
and  women  of  known  progressiveness  occurs  to 
one.  The  dead  hand  of  tradition  holds  reins 
which  should  be  held  by  individuals  accustomed 
to  methods  of  investigation  and  discovery  and 
familiar  with  hypothesis.  Indeed,  a  bureau  of 
social  engineers  might  well  be  established  to  make 
novel  proposals,  which,  upon  popular  ratification, 
would  promote  welfare  by  demonstration.  Ex- 
perimentation should  be  utilized  in  the  field  of 
social  developments,  for  it  is  one  of  the  strongest 
aids  of  mind.  The  scientific  method  may  well 
be  applied  to  government,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
scientist  and  the  seeker  after  truth  be  made  to 
supplant  the  widely  diffused  mild  horror  of  social 
experimentation. 


CHAPTER  X 

VIEWS   OF    PROPERTY 

THE  relation  of  wealth  to  welfare  is  so  close 
that  almost  every  social  issue  leads  to  a 
consideration  of  the  distribution  of  wealth,  which 
rests  upon  certain  mental  traits  and  states  of 
opinion. 

1.  Exclusive  Ownership 

In  dealing  with  property  psychology  we  meet 
first  of  all  with  the  idea  of  exclusive  possession, 
an  idea  that  is  fully  as  instinctive  as  rational, 
for  in  a  multitude  of  cases  the  personal  owner- 
ship of  a  utility  is  not  important  for  its  enjoy- 
ment. A  concrete  walk  in  front  of  one's  house 
is  of  no  more  utility  to  the  owner  than  is  his 
neighbor's  walk  over  which  he  passes ;  of  course 
as  such  walk  would  raise  the  value  of  his  property 
and  would  therefore  have  an  exchange  value,  there 
would  be  advantage  in  ownership.  But  for 
practical  enjoyment  a  multitude  of  objects  are 
perhaps  even  best  owned  by  someone  else.  It  was 
Thoreau  who  visited  various  farms,  talked  with 
their  owners  in  regard  to  his  purchase  of  them, 
and  went  away  without  buying,  having  absorbed, 
so  he  wrote,  the  real  value  in  them  from  having 


Views  of  Property  121 

clambered  over  their  picturesque  acres.  He  left 
to  the  farmer  the  burden  of  ownership  while  he 
stole  away  with  the  principal  delights.  Even 
the  Great  Man  who  talks  for  a  dollar  admission 
fee  may  deign  to  say  a  few  words  to  the  group 
at  the  railroad  station,  and  anyhow  his  likeness 
is  in  the  discarded  magazine,  and  his  remarks, 
even  perhaps  more  inclusive  than  those  actually 
made  by  him,  may  be  found  in  a  newspaper  from 
the  waste-paper  basket.  So  many  values  become 
uncorked  that  the  veriest  hobo  is  not  to  be  denied 
his  share  in  a  free  wealth  of  society.  Here  and 
there  are  individuals  who  say  they  cannot  really 
enjoy  unless  they  own,  but  what  difference  does 
ownership  make  provided  one  has  the  use  of  a 
thing?  It  is  only  for  use  that  ownership  rests 
at  all  in  reason  rather  than  solely  upon  the 
acquisitive  instinct. 

Uses  can  be  enjoyed  increasingly  in  common, 
and  to  this  extent  private  ownership  is  growing 
to  be  an  anachronism.  Not  by  any  means  that 
great  wealth  has  become  more  than  faintly  re- 
duced to  common  uses,  but  the  tendency  is  mani- 
fest. The  number  of  utilities  in  whose  use  the 
public  may  readily  share  is  growing.  Why 
should  a  man  having  boys  buy  them  sets  of  tools 
when  the  city  school  has  its  equipment  of  ham- 
mers and  saws  ?  Few  private  collections  of  books 
can  equal  those  of  a  modest  public  library,  and 
one's  home  may  well  be  used  for  other  purposes 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


than  the  storage  of  books  not  in  active  use.  Free 
lectures  are  as  inspiring  as  if  paid  for  dearly,  and 
they  are  numerous.  The  counsel  of  an  expert 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
is  as  valid  as  if  he  took  fees  for  advice  and  one 
were  to  give  him  two-thirds  of  the  first  year's 
crop  upon  the  contingency  of  a  good  yield.  The 
public  school  returns  one's  child  in  as  good  condi- 
tion as  if  from  the  ministrations  of  a  tutor,  and 
the  postman  who  delivers  one's  letters  would  not 
be  complimented  to  be  told  that  he  has  all  the 
faithfulness  of  the  expressman. 

But,  to  be  sure,  we  all  own  a  share  in  these 
governmental  agencies  —  we  own  them,  but  not 
as  private  owners.  Joint  ownership  thus  is  not 
exclusive,  and  it  carries  with  it  a  distinctly  higher 
social  sense.  And  this  sense  of  common  owner- 
ship is  most  desirable.  Property  sentiments  may 
be  transferred  to  public-owned  utilities.  The 
feeling  in  favor  of  exclusive  ownership  is  mostly 
pride  and  prejudice.  Really  only  a  few  things 
need  be  privately  owned,  these  being  utilities 
whose  use  could  not  be  shared  ;  but  in  an  increas- 
ing number  of  cases  joint  enjoyment  is  possible 
and  tolerable.  The  things  one  wrould  not  share 
with  others  belong  especially  to  the  sphere  of 
food,  clothes,  physical  maintenance,  and  imme- 
diate surroundings.  The  fruitlessness  of  the 
holding  of  wealth  by  the  overrich  is  revealed  by 
willingness  to  part  with  it  for  a  slight  considera- 


Views  of  Property  123 

tion  of  repute,  and  the  inability  to  make  other 
than  social  use  of  great  wealth  is  evident.  The 
development  of  common  wealth  stores  will  fol- 
low the  conviction  that  one  need  not  own  in 
exclusion  in  order  to  enjoy. 

With  social  ownership  the  sense  of  possession 
would  simply  be  transferred  to  social  types  of 
property,  and  what  is  "  mine  "  would  include  an 
undivided  share  in  what  society  owns.  One  re- 
quires wealth  only  for  its  actual  consumption  or 
for  the  assurance  of  future  income ;  accordingly 
the  primal  instinct  of  self-preservation,  which 
appears  as  the  desire  for  possession,  would  be 
amply  recognized  in  the  common  ownership  of 
social  utilities,  which  are  legion,  and  especially 
in  the  guaranty  by  the  state  of  an  adequate  in- 
come, resting  upon  individual  contribution  to  the 
total  production  of  society. 

2.  Ownership  and  Social  Viewpoint 

The  effect  of  social  ownership  upon  the  out- 
look of  the  citizen  would  be  far-reaching.  The 
government  would  be  his  business.  The  interest 
of  the  man  of  independent  means  is  now  often 
solely  that  there  be  no  interference  with  his  in- 
come ;  he  rarely  feels  a  common  cause.  A  social 
point  of  view  can  scarcely  develop  under  domi- 
nant private  ownership.  Common  ownership 
affords  a  basis  for  a  brotherhood  preached  but 
not  practiced.  The  antagonism  between  ethics 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


and  business  will  continue  until  economic  causes 
are  removed. 

Not  only  may  culture  establish  a  sense  of  pub- 
lic property,  but  definite  gratification  may  be 
developed  with  regard  to  the  participation  of 
others  in  all  those  utilities  which  might  be  made 
accessible  through  social  ownership.  Narrowly 
instinctive  possession  is  accompanied  by  callous- 
ness with  reference  to  the  privations  of  others. 
At  the  present  stage  in  the  evolution  of  social 
sentiments  striking  indifference  to  the  extent  of 
others'  deprivations  unfortunately  appears. 

The  dealer  in  pianos  is  indifferent  as  to  whether 
he  sells  one  piano  at  a  profit  of  a  hundred  dollars 
or  two  at  a  profit  of  fifty  dollars  each.  In  num- 
berless cases  a  far  wider  use  of  commodities  would 
be  made  if  the  principle  of  maximum  use  were 
substituted  for  an  indifference  as  to  the  number 
making  purchases  provided  the  profits  are  the 
same  with  a  large  or  small  number  of  sales.  If 
the  success  of  a  railroad  were  judged  by  the  num- 
ber of  persons  or  tons  of  freight  transported 
for  a  given  annual  net  profit,  rather  than  by 
profits  alone,  public  welfare  would  be  immensely 
furthered.  Under  social  ownership  the  opening 
wide  of  the  gates  of  transportation  would  be  an 
ideal  and  the  actual  extent  to  which  the  public 
used  railroads  would  be  the  test  of  efficient  man- 
agement. The  extent  of  consumption  is  the  most 
acceptable  criterion.  The  management  of  the 


Views  of  Property  125 

telegraph  should  be  judged  by  frequency  of  use. 
Today  when  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  re- 
ceives a  telegram  he  fears  someone  has  died. 
The  public  librarian  counts  success  by  the  num- 
ber of  volumes  drawn  for  use.  Consumption, 
not  profit,  is  the  true  measure. 

Through  the  ownership  of  the  means  through 
which  labor  operates  to  produce  wealth,  namely, 
capital  and  tools,  a  few  are  enabled  to  exclude 
the  many  from  utilities  which  might  be  caused 
to  exist,  and  indeed  bring  it  about  that  in  a 
world  where  endless  productivity  is  possible,  with 
resulting  welfare,  the  securing  of  a  job,  at  mod- 
est compensation,  becomes  a  goal  of  intense 
rivalry,  to  obtain  which  laborers  not  infrequently 
break  one  another's  heads.  The  exclusion  of 
people  from  work  is,  upon  consideration,  a  re- 
markable fact;  but  as  work  is  merely  a  means 
to  a  living,  the  real  fact  illustrated  is  the  ex- 
clusion of  people,  sometimes  in  great  numbers, 
from  the  privilege  of  securing  goods  whereby 
to  live.  When  the  producer  creates  more  wealth 
than  he  can  buy  back  with  his  wages  he  contributes 
to  his  own  downfall,  and  is  even  denied  the  oppor- 
tunity of  further  employment,  for  "  overproduc- 
tion" occurs  and  men  are  thrown  out  of  work. 
Ownership  results  in  the  exclusion  of  would-be 
producers  from  tilling  idle  lands,  and  occasionally 
from  working  more  than  half-time  at  factories 
which  turn  out  commodities  which  the  public 


126         The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

would  be  very  pleased  to  consume  if  they  had  the 
money  with  which  to  buy.  Joblessness  is  a 
strange  feature  of  a  system  of  production.  Of 
all  economic  mysteries  that  of  exclusion  from 
productive  labor  is  the  most  outstanding.  It  is 
possible  so  to  order  industry  that  production 
would  not  need  to  back-pedal  lest  there  should 
be  too  much  produced  of  things  people  really 
want. 

3.  Thrift 

A  phase  of  privation  to  which  even  some  honor 
is  accorded  is  that  of  self -exclusion  from  enjoy- 
ing the  utilities  which  one  actually  succeeds  in 
securing  the  means  to  pay  for.  Thrift,  so  far  as 
it  inures  to  increased  production,  evidently  has 
merits,  but,  so  far  as  it  implies  a  pinching  of 
life,  is  distinctly  opposed  to  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion. The  effort  to  save  up  enough  money  with 
which  to  pay  one's  self  a  pension  during  old  age 
often  results  in  a  life  of  meagerness,  and  a  legacy. 
The  recipient  of  a  two-thousand-dollar  income 
who  saves  half  of  it  is  a  thousand-dollar  man  in 
the  meantime,  with  the  limits  of  experience  and 
outlook  which  go  with  such  expenditure.  One 
must  spend  to  grow;  hence  the  doubtful  virtue 
of  strict  economy.  And  such  economy  most  often 
falls  hardest  upon  the  wife ;  is  this  a  reason  why 
woman  has  been  so  long  retarded  in  civic  and 
intellectual  development?  The  world  is  really 


Views  of  Property  127 

relieved  from  the  possibility  of  a  desperate  stag- 
nation by  the  person  who  spends  money.  Were 
saving  governed  by  discretion  as  to  choice  among 
ways  of  spending  money,  an  immense  accelera- 
tion of  progress  would  ensue  from  the  develop- 
ment of  new  wants  and  a  consequent  broadening 
of  experience  and  mentality.  To  save  money 
so  as  to  be  able  to  buy  desirable  goods  or  serv- 
ices, resulting  in  personal  development,  is  one 
thing;  but  to  save  to  accumulate  a  fund  the 
interest  from  which  will  support  one  in  old  age, 
in  the  meantime  paring  down  life  to  meagerness, 
may  be  necessary  under  present  conditions  but 
should  not  be  mistaken  for  an  absolute  virtue. 

Very  likely  the  instinct  to  own  would  not 
appear  in  so  extreme  a  form  if  it  were  not  for  the 
ever-present  fear  of  not  being  well  taken  care 
of  in  old  age.  Impelled  by  this  fear  many  find 
less  than  possible  enjoyment  in  life  year  by  year, 
and  an  unworthy  obsession  drives  them  to  ac- 
cumulate more  and  more.  When  actual  happi- 
ness comes  to  be  given  due  consideration  in  the 
social  economy  the  abolition  of  unnecessary  con- 
cern about  support  in  old  age  will  receive  atten- 
tion. The  net  result  of  this  fear  is  to  subtract 
from  daily  joy,  without  supplying  the  best  set  of 
motives  for  conduct  and  enterprise.  The  greed 
of  property  and  the  disputatiousness  of  bargain- 
ing rest  to  a  large  degree  upon  considerations  of 
personal  safety  which  might  be  more  happily  rec- 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 


ognized  in  social  assurance  of  care  in  disability 
and  old  age.  Even  the  possession  of  large  means 
does  not  dispel  such  fear,  for  one's  property  may 
be  lost. 

4-  Great  Expectations 

The  tendency  to  private  rather  than  social 
ownership  arises  partly  from  great  expectations. 
The  individual  dreams  of  the  golden  fleece,  of  a 
lucky  strike,  of  great  good  luck.  A  much-adver- 
tised success  fires  with  the  hope  of  individual 
aggrandizement  and  puts  the  virus  of  non- 
cooperative  selfishness  into  the  blood.  With  every 
man  expecting  that  he  will  be  the  one  to  "  strike 
oil,"  the  prosaic  certainty  of  fairly  uniform  mea- 
gerness  of  income  has  little  chance  of  credence. 
To  face  the  truth  that  under  existing  conditions 
the  fate  of  the  great  majority  is  to  remain  below 
a  certain  economic  level,  and  that  personal  ambi- 
tion can  rarely  avail  if  system  is  opposed,  is  less 
agreeable  than  to  indulge  hopes  of  special  provi- 
dence. The  most  stupefying  social  inequalities 
therefore  pass  without  challenge  —  for  tomorrow 
I  may  also  be  of  the  chosen.  Under  exceptional 
conditions,  as  in  the  industry  and  trade  of  pioneer 
communities,  based  on  limitless  natural  resources, 
self-sufficiency  has  a  degree  of  justification,  but 
under  more  usual  conditions  the  expectation  of 
individual  wealth  lacks  support.  One  of  the 
first  steps  for  economic  democracy  is  to  convince 


Views  of  Property  129 

the  individual  of  the  fact  that  no  bank  has  more 
than  one  president,  and  that  the  wealth  of  the 
world  would  not  suffice  to  make  every  clerk  a 
man  of  millions;  upon  which  considerations  a 
bristling  assurance  of  not  being  as  others  are 
would  suffer  a  certain  eclipse.  There  is  a  kind 
of  hope  which  delays  the  arrival  of  a  rationally 
ordered  economic  society.  The  billions  of  organ- 
ized wealth  in  a  few  hands  rest  largely  upon  the 
obsession  of  money  adventure  which  afflicts  the 
miracle-loving  and  luck-expectant  mind. 

5.  Attitude  Toward  T cures 

A  state  of  mind  which  constitutes  a  real  obstacle 
to  progress  is  opposition  to  paying  taxes.  The 
dislike  may  be  partly  due  to  fear  lest  one  should 
pay  more  than  his  share,  but  presumably  is  rather 
because  the  services  and  utilities  which  the  state 
affords  are  not  so  clearly  realized  as  are  those 
bought  individually.  To  the  extent  to  which 
public  money  is  raised  inequitably  or  expended 
improperly  the  citizen  may  well  resist,  but  only 
through  civic  nearsightedness  could  the  collec- 
tive purchasing  by  society  of  schools,  medical 
attendance,  expert  service,  fire  protection,  parks, 
and  transportation  be  opposed.  A  common  play- 
ground renders  it  unnecessary  for  every  family 
to  own  a  private  playground.  One  may  see 
the  ocean  and  reflect  upon  barnacle-incrusted 
rocks  as  fruitfully  in  the  public  park  of  a  sea- 


130        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

port  town  as  from  any  other  vantage  point,  and 
one's  contribution  to  the  social  purchase  of  utili- 
ties should  be  made  with  downright  satisfaction. 
Far  from  grumbling  upon  payment  to  the  state, 
the  citizen  should  cultivate  a  satisfaction  in  social 
ownership.  By  contributing  to  the  purchase  of 
public  libraries  the  citizen  secures  the  vastness 
of  literature  for  next  to  nothing.  Under  equi- 
table circumstances  one  should  watch  the  mount- 
ing rate  of  taxation  or  the  increase  of  income 
of  socially  owned  enterprises  with  real  satisfac- 
tion, not  to  say  enthusiasm,  and  realize  that  the 
day  of  common  wealth  dawns. 

To  be  consistent  in  the  dread  of  taxes  the 
citizen  should  flinch  as  little  from  direct  as  from 
indirect  payments ;  but  the  atavistic  nature  of  this 
fear  is  evident  when  one  considers  that  a  dollar 
paid  out  indirectly  under  the  tariff  is  as  really 
spent  as  if  paid  to  the  tax  collector.  The  future 
psychologizing  historian  may  well  class  among 
the  monstrous  incunabula  of  humbug  the  indirect 
tax  and  exclaim  at  its  actual  popularity  in  va- 
rious forms.  What  changes  would  follow  the 
translation  of  every  indirect  tax  into  direct  taxa- 
tion! Then  the  seemingly  sourceless  money  so 
prodigally  spent  on  battleships  would  seem  to  be 
dug  out  of  the  private  purse,  and  peace  would 
be  popular. 

The  fallacy  of  indirect  payment  appears  like- 
wise in  the  reserve  attending  the  compensation 


Views  of  Property  181 

of  public  servants  as  contrasted  with  the  prodi- 
gality of  incomes  paid  indirectly.  The  com- 
munity which  would  cavil  at  paying  a  public 
servant  three  thousand  dollars  a  year  pays  un- 
complainingly perhaps  ten  thousand  dollars  to 
the  president  of  the  local  bank  and  beholds 
with  equanimity  the  gathering  in  of  the  unearned 
increment  on  a  township  of  land  by  a  prominent 
citizen  amounting  to  scores  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars annually.  In  either  case  the  public  pays,  but 
whether  directly  or  indirectly,  whether  by  formal 
act  or  merely  in  reality,  makes  a  difference. 

The  farmers  of  a  state  pay  with  acquiescence 
their  contributions  to  individual  commercial  in- 
comes ranging  upward  to  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  a  year,  but  demur  at  the  payment  of 
more  than  meager  living  expenses  to  men  em- 
ployed in  state  universities,  who,  if  properly  but- 
tressed financially,  might  declare  an  intellectual 
independence  taking  the  shape  of  a  more  active 
espousal  of  the  interests  of  citizens  of  small  means. 

That  the  origin  of  wealth,  under  organized 
political  and  industrial  society,  is  social  is  be- 
yond question,  and  the  payment  of  incomes  to 
individuals  is  as  truly  by  society  when  in  the 
form  of  dividends  or  profits  as  when  voted  by 
public  boards  and  paid  on  warrants  drawn  by 
public  officials.  But  the  popular  reaction  to 
incomes  paid  directly  differs  widely  from  the  re- 
action to  indirect  payment.  Thus  it  comes  about 


132         The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

that  while  the  man  who  markets  a  scientific 
product  may  receive  an  income  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year,  the  nation  pays  the  director 
of  a  federal  experiment  station  less  than  five,  and 
that  while  a  member  of  the  cabinet  whose  work 
relates  to  manufacturing  is  paid  twelve  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  a  beneficiary  of  the  steel  trust 
is  awarded  by  the  same  public  an  income  which 
permits  the  easy  gift  of  library  edifices  sufficient 
in  number  to  serve  as  mileposts  from  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

6.  Competition  and  Character 

Emphasis  upon  private  possession  and  failure 
to  conceive  the  larger  freedom  of  cooperation 
result  in  an  unnecessarily  severe  subsistence  com- 
petition, in  which  the  aim  is  to  get  the  most  for 
one's  self  regardless  of  how  others  are  affected. 
Tricks  and  cruelties  of  trade  are  inevitable  under 
the  conditions. 

It  would  be  fortunate  if  conditions  were  ar- 
ranged to  bring  out  the  best  in  people.  Human 
nature  has  its  fundamental  and  abiding  tenden- 
cies and  also  qualities  which  are  simply  reflections 
of  environment.  Whether  a  man  becomes  a  prize 
fighter  or  a  soldier  of  the  Lord  depends  upon 
guiding  influences.  The  channels  of  expression 
afforded  by  one's  social  setting  lead  to  large 
consequences.  A  power  of  imagination  which 
under  right  culture  might  issue  in  scientific  hy- 


Views  of  Property  133 

potheses  may  under  a  wrong  culture  qualify  the 
consummate  liar.  Mere  exhortations  to  integrity 
have  but  slight  effect  if  the  whole  pressure  and 
argument  of  daily  circumstance  are  to  the  con- 
trary. The  individual  is  responsive  to  conditions 
under  which  he  must  maintain  himself,  even  to 
the  disregard  of  ideals.  The  iniquity  of  circum- 
stances is  as  real  as  the  depravity  of  men.  If 
one  manufacturer  puts  shoddy  in  his  cloth  others 
are  likely  to  do  the  same  or  go  out  of  business ; 
we  are  good  or  bad  together.  There  is  scarcely 
a  lawyer  who  would  not  prefer  to  fight  the  battles 
of  the  poor  —  if  he  could  support  his  family  as 
well. 

With  physical  maintenance  assured,  and  in  the 
absence  of  disproportionate  private  wealth,  com- 
petition would  assume  forms  now  barely  possible. 
Instead  of  being  controlled  by  financial  consid- 
erations, the  individual  would  be  relatively  free 
to  apply  his  energies  to  ideal  tasks.  There  are 
millions  today  whose  aptitudes  for  creating 
things  in  the  spirit  of  art  are  stunted  because 
of  dog-eat-dog  economic  conditions.  To  com- 
pete in  advancing  the  common  good  under  a 
system  permitting  cooperation  rather  than  result- 
ing in  collision  and  the  neutralization  of  efforts 
would  amount  to  being  civilized.  The  desire  to 
excel  may  be  enlisted  for  social  purposes.  It  is 
a  matter  of  social  organization  whether  two  re- 
tailers or  physicians  hate  and  envy  or  pull  to- 


134        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

gether.  People  prefer  to  compete  for  good 
opinion  but  they  have  to  live  first. 

That  an  unpleasant  competition  for  subsist- 
ence must  prevail  is  a  fallacy  of  the  popular 
mind.  Harmonious  relationships  and  enterprise 
would  be  possible  were  there  social  provision  for 
physical  maintenance.  For  a  higher  civilization 
a  minimum  subsistence  must  be  assured,  that  ener- 
gies may  be  set  free  for  better  forms  of  effort. 

There  is  about  as  much  moral  excellence  in 
the  world  as  there  can  be  considering  the  stake 
in  making  money.  Without  a  better  economic 
order  one  can  imagine  the  people  of  ten  thou- 
sand years  hence  cheating,  grafting,  adulterat- 
ing, skinning  jobs,  hiring  lawyers  to  find  loop- 
holes in  statutes,  swearing  off  taxes,  and  gouging 
the  helpless.  A  low  form  of  subsistence  compe- 
tition emphasizes  these  activities  and  gives  the 
trader  a  foxy  air. 

It  is  not  to  be  argued,  however,  that  what 
Stevenson  calls  a  "strong  sense  of  personal 
identity"  is  not  a  valuable  social  asset.  Un- 
selfishness is  pleasing,  so  let  a  word  be  spoken 
for  selfishness.  The  preferring  of  others  to 
one's  self  has  bounds  beyond  which  the  results 
are  harmful.  Whenever^in^dividuals  in  a  class 
are  content  with  little  they  place  a  ball  and  chain 
upon  others  who  have  spirit  and  ambition.  The 
school  teacher  who  is  willing  to  work  for  forty 
dollars  a  month,  because  of  undeveloped  wants, 


Views  of  Property  135 

supplies  an  element  which  causes  professional 
solidarity  to  crumble,  and  through  a  consequent 
weakening  of  education  tends  to  defeat  the  very 
aims  of  civilization.  The  workingman  who 
does  not  mind  eating  from  the  confines  of  a  hot 
tin  pail  delays  the  arrival  of  an  industrial  com- 
missariat and  the  uplift  of  labor.  The  assertion 
of  self  is  self-respect,  and  one  cannot  properly 
respect  others  until  his  own  wants  are  positive. 
A  willingness  to  be  nothing  is  a  crime  against 
mankind.  The  amount  of  actual  damage  which 
the  humble  and  contrite  of  spirit  can  inflict  upon 
the  class  to  which  they  belong,  upon  the  coming 
generation,  and  upon  relatives  is  equaled  perhaps 
by  nothing  short  of  war  and  pestilence.  To 
fail  of  self-assertion  is  to  carry  backward  the 
hopes  of  others. 

But  with  selfishness  discredited  there  must  be 
offense,  and  for  selfishness  without  imagination 
little  that  is  good  may  be  said.  There  is  self- 
seeking  in  whose  defense  no  one  can  speak.  It 
is  the  altruistic  variety  of  self-assertion  which 
may  be  commended.  Let  us  work  for  pure  milk, 
for  if  others'  children  are  safe  mine  will  be. 
Here  is  the  circle  of  considerations  which  en- 
lightened selfishness,  more  reputably  known  as 
altruism  or  social  service,  pursues.  To  be  selfish 
in  a  large  way  is  to  help  others.  In  seeking  per- 
sonal ends  with  imagination  advantages  gained 
overflow  to  the  general  good. 


CHAPTER  XI 

A  SENSE  OF   HUMANITY 

A  CALAMITY  in  any  part  of  the  world  af- 
fects every  other  part.  War  and  waste, 
flood  and  famine  set  up  influences  that  reach  far. 
The  retardation  of  any  nation,  its  ignorance 
and  illiteracy,  similarly  menace  other  nations 
through  diseases  brought  in  at  ports  or  through 
an  immigration  carrying  with  it  low  standards. 
A  country  cannot  long  maintain  a  civilization  far 
above  the  average;  no  country  can  safely  be 
insensible  to  conditions  prevailing  elsewhere.  A 
highly  cultivated  family  living  among  the  igno- 
rance and  dirt  of  neighbors  is  constantly  menaced. 
So  with  a  nation.  It  is  important  that  there  be 
no  backward  nations,  for  they  are  a  drawback 
to  civilization  the  world  over.  The  evolution  of 
the  working  class  is  hampered  by  the  existence 
of  serf  states  of  mind  in  the  farthest  country  on 
the  map.  To  better  one's  own  condition  one 
must  think  in  terms  of  fraternity.  Brotherhood 
is  dictated  by  economic  considerations.  It  is 
necessary  that  parochialism  and  provincialism  be 
done  away  with,  and  that  a  ruinous  patriotism, 
out  of  which  conflicts  and  hatreds  rise,  be  dis- 
possessed by  world  consciousness. 
136 


A  Sense  of  Humanity  137 

This  consciousness  is  appearing,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent arising  from  causes  not  deliberately  set  in 
motion.  International  commerce  has  developed 
a  non-provincial  point  of  view.  To  become 
friendly  when  there  is  mutual  understanding 
is  as  inevitable  as  once  to  regard  the  stranger 
as  a  natural  enemy  to  be  defrauded,  killed,  or 
eaten. 

Acquaintance  and  communication  make  for  a 
world  sense.  Hence  the  advantage  of  the  con- 
vening of  international  congresses  to  consider 
scientific  and  other  subjects  not  confined  to  na- 
tional boundaries.  The  interchange  of  instruc- 
tors among  the  schools  of  various  countries  is 
of  promise,  and  the  development  of  fraternalism 
represented  by  the  international  socialist  move- 
ment, which  binds  together  the  working  classes 
of  the  more  developed  peoples,  is  a  contribution 
to  world  betterment  whose  importance  can  hardly 
be  exaggerated. 

It  is  especially  desirable  that  there  be  appeals 
to  the  emotions  in  behalf  of  internationalism. 
The  man  who  thinks  knows  already  that  there 
is  everything  to  gain  by  world  concord,  so  it 
is  the  man  governed  by  other  people's  ideas 
who  needs  to  be  reached,  and  he  requires  a  train- 
ing of  the  emotions.  An  international  flag  would 
have  possibilities  —  an  international  emblem,  al- 
ways to  float  above  the  flags  of  nations,  which 
now  stand  in  part  for  the  concentrated  prejudices 


138        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

and  hatreds  of  centuries,  fortifying  evil  moods 
by  perpetual  reminder. 

The  emphasizing  of  the  social  rather  than  the 
national  aspects  of  history  weakens  virulent 
patriotism  and  establishes  a  better  outlook.  Na- 
tional egotism  is  inflamed  by  attention  to  old- 
time  military  episodes  and  by  the  selection  of 
historical  materials  which,  as  in  Germany,  may 
be  designed  rather  to  form  willing  recruits  to  the 
colors  than  to  make  intelligence  impartial.  While 
rational  people  usually  claim  recovery  from  early 
impressions  received  from  textbooks  in  history, 
a  recrudescence  of  juvenile  prejudice  perhaps 
awaits  but  the  blare  of  the  band,  and  Fourth  of 
July  oratory  and  reminiscence  are  not  without 
saddening  implications. 

Membership  in  clannish  groups  makes  for  anti- 
social states  of  mind.  It  is  natural  to  form  clans 
and  groups,  but  it  is  important  that  the  sense 
of  kinship  shall  not  be  too  limited.  The  mem- 
ber of  a  gang  is  unfitted  for  society  because  his 
world  is  too  small.  If  his  loyalty  extended  to  the 
general  public  he  would  be  a  good  citizen.  The 
politician  whose  world  is  confined  to  his  "  friends  " 
is,  let  us  hope,  to  be  superseded  by  the  servant 
of  the  public  whose  devotions  are  not  even  con- 
fined to  his  "party."  So  the  individual  content 
to  hurrah  only  for  his  city,  college,  baseball 
team,  denomination,  or  country  should  be  re- 
garded as  having  stages  of  development  ahead  of 


'A  Sense  of  Humanity  139 

him.  The  highest  attitude  is  expressed  in  the 
words,  "  The  world  is  my  country  and  to  do  good 
is  my  religion." 

1.  Instinctive  Basis  of  War 

The  chronic  impediment  to  world  fellowship 
is  war,  or  the  spirit  which  outcrops  in  war,  a 
spirit  whose  basis  is  in  instinct;  for  there  is  no 
reason,  no  logic,  for  war.  It  is  an  instinctive 
reaction  to  a  situation.  War  does  not  improve 
a  race ;  it  does  not  improve  morals ;  it  does  not 
in  general  help  business;  it  does  not  add  to 
happiness;  it  has  not  a  single  rational  justifica- 
tion. 

On  the  other  hand  it  combines  evils  so  almost 
scientifically  that  it  might  be  regarded  as  the 
masterpiece  of  diabolical  intelligence.  True,  it 
intensifies  national  spirit — and  thus  prepares 
for  more  wars.  There  is  no  well-reasoned  and 
uninspired  support  of  war,  and  it  is  the  problem 
of  dealing  with  its  peculiar  psychology  that  is 
today  uppermost. 

It  is  instinctive  to  react  to  an  affront  by  the 
most  direct  metho'd,  to  strike  back.  This  native 
response,  hardly  exhibited  at  all  in  the  shoot- 
ing of  strangers  in  long-drawn-out  campaigns, 
appeals  especially  to  intelligence  little  prescient 
of  results  and  impatient  of  reason.  The  physical 
rather  than  the  mental  resolution  of  a  difficulty 
implies  an  absence  of  rationality.  Worsted  in 


140        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

debate,  the  undeveloped  man  may  ejaculate, 
"  Well,  I  can  lick  him  anyhow  " ;  failing  to  re- 
pair a  machine,  he  feels  like  smashing  it ;  unable 
to  command  the  intelligence  required  to  deal  with 
child  or  horse,  he  "  gives  it  a  good  thrashing  " ; 
whenever  intelligence  fails  to  solve  a  problem, 
force  is  resorted  to.  To  be  sure,  either  party  to 
a  fight  may  alone  be  the  undeveloped  individual. 
But  in  every  case  a  fight  is  a  resort  to  instinctive 
rather  than  rational  alternatives,  and  every  con- 
flict implies  either  primitive  mind  or  a  bullying 
for  unfair  advantage. 

The  psychology  of  war  is  primitive,  and  primi- 
tive mind  is  found  in  adolescents.  The  armies  of 
the  North  in  the  Civil  War  were  made  up  largely 
of  boys  —  virtually  constituting  a  children's 
crusade.  Boys  like  nothing  better  than  war 
tales,  this  selection  representing  their  sharing  in 
the  emotional  life  of  primitive  man;  however, 
except  in  cases  of  a  virtual  arrest  of  development, 
sometimes  even  appearing  in  men  of  other- 
wise consistent  maturity,  youth  is  likely  to 
outgrow  the  militaristic  stage  and  acquire  peace 
traits. 

#.  Desire  to  Travel 

So  far  as  wars  represent  the  willing  participa- 
tion of  the  private  soldier,  the  motives  are  not 
far  to  seek.  The  travel  impulse  is  a  dominant 
one  among  adolescents,  the  desire  to  see  new 


A  Sense  of  Humanity  141 

places  being  among  the  strongest  of  interests.1 
Enlistment  has  been  a  means  of  securing  travel, 
which  historically  has  been  beyond  the  purse 
of  the  average  youth.  The  appeal  is  made  to 
young  men  to  join  the  navy  in  order  to  "see 
the  world."  One  can  imagine  the  downright  de- 
light of  the  adolescent  in  former  periods,  before 
the  days  of  the  locomotive,  when  a  call  to  arms 
meant  an  excursion  from  England  into  France 
or  from  France  to  Ireland.  During  the  period 
of  chronic  wars  only  the  rich  could  travel,  and 
the  migratory  instinct,  of  which  the  railroad 
today  is  the  principal  outlet,  was  corked  up. 
Even  the  known  dangers  of  arms  presumably 
barely  dampened  the  ardor  for  such  seeing  of 
new  places.  The  time  is  now  scarcely  past  when 
one  who  had  been  abroad  was  venerated  and 
envied.  The  talk  of  the  young  men  who  volun- 
teered for  the  Spanish-American  War  was  of 
seeing  Cuba  or  the  Philippines,  while  the  dangers 


i  Professor  E.  L.  Thorndike  in  his  Principles  of  Teach- 
ing, A.  G.  Seller,  New  York,  p.  101,  gives  a  list  of  ten 
interests;  viz.,  being  at  a  party;  eating  a  good  dinner; 
playing  indoor  games,  such  as  games  of  cards;  playing 
outdoor  games,  such  as  baseball,  basket-ball,  tennis; 
working  with  tools,  as  carpentering  or  gardening;  hear- 
ing music,  as  at  a  concert;  being  present  at  a  theater; 
reading  a  story;  resting,  such  as  lying  in  a  hammock  or 
on  a  couch;  traveling  or  seeing  new  places.  It  is  the 
experience  of  the  present  writer  that  when  adolescents 
are  asked  to  indicate  their  preferences  in  order  among 
these  interests  the  first  choice  falls  to  traveling  or  seeing 
new  places,  with  hearing  music  in  second  place. 


The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

of  war  were  appropriately  minimized.  In  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War,  few  northerners  knew  much 
of  the  South,  and  the  romance  of  a  strange  land, 
uniting  with  the  music  interest,  swelled  enlist- 
ments. Lacking  such  incentives,  the  call  to  arms, 
North  or  South,  would  have  perhaps  met  with 
an  indifference  which  would  have  dictated  a  rea- 
soned settlement  of  differences. 

Cheap  travel  accordingly  tends  to  let  the  gas 
out  of  the  bag  of  militarism.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  desire  to  see  new  places  is  so  strong 
that  life  will  be  risked,  the  cheapening  of  trans- 
portation is  important  as  a  peace  measure.  The 
desire  to  liberate  the  Cuban  reconcentrado  might, 
as  a  result  of  intelligent  travel  to  our  great 
cities,  have  given  way  to  an  interest  to  deliver 
millions  of  Americans  out  of  rotten  slums. 

The  peculiar  susceptibility  of  adolescence, 
with  its  impulsions  and  ignorance,  to  militaristic 
expeditions  suggests  the  wisdom  of  quarantining 
society  as  much  as  possible  against  such  influence. 
The  very  fact  of  adolescence  will  permanently 
afford  some  basis  of  appeal  which  may  be  made 
use  of  by  such  interests  as  would  keep  the  world 
armed,  though  we  can  hardly  know  how  success- 
ful would  be  efforts  to  teach  children  from  the 
first  the  advantages  of  peace.  But  if  war  were 
declared,  not  by  monarchs,  nor  by  Congress, 
which,  while  thought  sometimes  not  to  be  suffi- 
ciently responsive  to  public  opinion,  is  often 


A  Sense  of  Humanity  143 

unduly  subservient  to  mere  opinion,  but  by  popu- 
lar election,  to  be  participated  in  only  by  voters 
above  the  age  of  twenty  five  years,  with  cumula- 
tive voting  by  parents,  the  likelihood  of  war 
would  be  vastly  diminished.  Such  voting  would 
represent  deliberation,  which  is  always  fatal  to  a 
fight. 

The  spirit  of  youth  is  in  league  with  militarism 
because  of  its  adventure,  its  novelty,  and  its 
opportunities  for  heroic  action  and  display. 
There  is  a  subtle  thread  of  sex  interest.  A  youth 
will  perform  strange  feats  to  win  favor,  and  not 
only  heroic  actions  but  heroic  appearance  counts. 
Feminine  admiration  of  the  uniform  has  had  its 
effect,  but  if  every  maid  realized  that  every  fruit- 
ful bullet  appointed  an  unfruitful  woman,  femi- 
nine influence  would  be  cast  for  civilization. 
Every  man  killed  means  an  "old  maid"  or  a 
widow.  A  woman's  life  is  lost  with  every  man's. 

3.  Better  Use  of  Fighting  Tendency 

But  is  there  not  a  still  deeper  reason  why  men 
fight?  Is  it  not  a  struggle  for  life?  Nothing 
that  is  now  meant  by  life  can  be  as  well  secured 
by  fighting  as  by  united  effort.  Mutual  help 
brings  life.  Life  is  to  be  had  by  cooperation, 
even  as  the  cells  of  the  body  cooperate  in  health. 
Fighting  is  a  luxury.  The  world  cannot  afford 
to  fight. 

But  the  fighting  tendency,  directed  to  suit- 


144        The  Psychology  of  Citizenship 

able  ends,  is  valuable,  indispensable,  for  it  sup- 
plies motive  power.  A  substitute  for  fighting 
against  people  may  be  found  in  fighting  against 
evils,  with  mankind  enlisted  under  one  banner.  It 
is  the  condemnation  of  war  that  its  targets  are 
people.  There  is  surely  enough  to  fight  —  pov- 
erty, disease,  ignorance,  ugliness,  erosion,  weeds, 
bad  roads.  We  can  fight  for  an  economic  system 
which  would  enable  producers  to  consume  as 
much  as  they  produce,  thus  doing  away  with  the 
prime  cause  of  modern  wars  —  foreign  markets. 
Let  wars  be  made  against  evils,  not  against 
people.  The  fighting  against  people,  when  there 
are  so  many  evils  to  fight,  is  dire  waste. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  intelligence  of  the 
world  should  not  ultimately  prove  sufficient  for 
the  abolition  of  war,  even  though  there  is  still 
war  and  preparation  for  war.  But  much  of  the 
keenest  intelligence  is  aligned  with  private  inter- 
ests which  profit  in  some  way  from  militarism. 
A  great  mass  of  people,  the  successors  of  vast 
slave,  serf,  and  peasant  populations,  possess  an 
outlook  which  exposes  them  to  manipulation  for 
>  military  purposes.  War  lives  because  there  are 
millions  who  do  not  think  on  some  subjects. 
Wars  may  be  "pulled  off"  by  the  action  of  a 
few  who  are  in  a  position  to  manipulate  certain 
elements  of  population.  But  ignorance  is  lack 
of  nurture,  it  is  not  necessarily  incapacity ;  there 
are  relatively  few  feeble-minded.  The  teaching 


A  Sense  of  Humanity  145 

of  peace  is  all  that  is  lacking  to  make  war  im- 
possible. The  suggestion  may  be  caused  to  pre- 
vail that  it  is  better  to  sign  the  inevitable  treaty 
of  peace  before  rather  than  at  the  close  of  hos- 
tilities, and  that  the  interests  of  the  workers  of 
the  world  are  one. 


••* 


INDEX 

Advertising  good  examples,  value  of,  91—93 
Attention,  the  limits  of,  36-41 ;   source  of  diversion 
of,  36;  forms  of  distraction,  42—54 

Brain  work  vs.  physical  labor,  42—45 

Character  and  competition,  132-135 

Children,  practice  of  misinforming,  16,  17;  effect 
in  later  years  of  early  training  of,  19 

Citizenship,  new  type  of  education  for,  10—17 

Civic  demands  upon  intelligence,  1-17 

Civic  ideas,  necessity  of  diffusing  constructive,  92 

Civic  ignorance,  102—104 

Civic  issues  require  imagination,  6-8;  study  of 
them  necessary,  8-10 

Civic  publicity  and  the  voter,  99-108 

Classics,  the  student  of  the,  and  the  coming  nation, 
11,  12 

College  men  and  "  sucker  lists,"  12,  13  ^ 

Competition  and  character,  132-135 

Congress,  how  characterized  by  H.  G.  Wells,  46  ^ 

Constitutions,  undue  veneration,  f or,  13 

Contentment  with  working  conditions,  importance 
of,  72,  73 

Courts,  the,  and  actual  justice,  113;  without  law- 
yers, 113,  114;  allied  with  reaction,  114 

Dead  hand  of  old  ideas,  and  progress,  85,  86 
Democracy,  new  literature  necessary  for  a  truer,  89 
Distraction,  forms  of,  42—54 
Dress  and  woman,  51,  52 

Economic  conditions,  effect  on  achievement  of,  133  * 
Economy,  doubtful  virtue  of  strict,  126  ^ 

147  m  * 


148  Index 

Education,   new  type  of,    for   citizenship,    10-17; 

system  of,  suffers  an  undevelopment,  1 4—1 6 
Educational  test,  is  such  feasible?   104-108 
Elizabethan  play,  a  force  not  conducive  to  modern 

welfare,  89 

Employees,  unstimulated  to  thought,  32 
Employments,    67;    should    be    promoted   by    the 

social   order,   70,   71 ;    may   be   judged   by   the 

conditions  with  which  one  is  content,  72,  73 
Environment,  affects  views,   18—20;    force  of,  28, 

33ff. 
Expectations,  great,  of  financial  luck,  128-129 

Fear  as  a  motive,  82,  83 
Feeling  more  influential  than  argument,  23 
Fighting  tendency,  the,  the  better  use  for,  143-145 
Ford,   Henry,   wise   treatment  of   machine   opera- 
tives, 61 

Gompers,   Samuel,  on  effect  of  machine  tending, 

62,  63 
Government,    should    have    the    scientific    method 

applied  to  it,  118,  119 

Habit  and  custom,  18,  20-23 
Humanity,  a  sense  of,  136—145 

Ideals,  importance  of  fine,  85 

Ideas,  inheritance  of,  85-88 

Illiteracy,  in  the  United  States,  44,  45;    general 

and  civic  ignorance  characterizes,  102 
Imagination,  required  in  civic  issues,  6—8 
Imagination,  power  of  in  character  forming,   132, 

133 

Incomes,  overpayment  and  underpayment  in,  27 
Individual,  the  development  of  the,  70 


Index  149 

Individual,  the,  responsive  to  conditions,  133 
Industrial  life,  modern,  represents  maladjustment 

between  work  and  man,  83 
Industrial  war,  when  a  logical  result,  78,  79 
Industrial  world,  peace  in  the,  and  keeping  labor 

ignorant  of  profits,  75,  76 
Industry,  self-government  in,  83,  84 
Injustice  in  industrial  relations  and  sabotage,  79 
Intelligence,  stimulated  by  change  of  surroundings, 
29,  30;  and  by  machinery,  56—58;  when  harmed 
by  machine  work,  59-66;   less  called  for  in  cer- 
tain industries,  66;  stunted  by  certain  jobs,  67 
Interests,  which  characterize  the  public  today,  53 ; 
should   be   a  larger   recognition   of  the  natural, 
74;  travel  one  of  the  strongest,  141 ;  list  of,  141 
Internationalism,  to  be  sought,  136,  137,  139 

Journalism,  civic,  men  and  women  should  be  trained 

to,  101 
Joy,  value  of  in  work,  but  too  often  absent,  72,  73 ; 

possible  to  release,  81 ;   and  strict  economy,  126, 

127 

Labor,  shorter  hours  for,  and  progress,  43;  and 
machine  production,  59;  the  spirit  of,  72—84; 
value  of  contentment  in,  72—74;  kept  in  igno- 
rance of  profits,  75,  76;  proper  motivation  nec- 
essary in,  77,  78 ;  pleasure  in,  80-82 

Law,  its  static  nature  under  tradition,  109,  112 

Lawyers  and  society,  112-116;  New  Zealand's 
progress  and  absence  of,  113;  courts  without, 
113,  114;  need  modern  education,  115 

Legal  mind,  the,  109-119 

Legislation,  its  shortcomings,  3,  4,  8,  46;  experi- 
mental, 116-119 

Leisure  is  possible,  55,  56 

Literature,  influence  of  on  civilization,  88—91 


150  Index 

Machinery,  effect  of  on  the  mind,  55-71;  stimu- 
lates thought,  56-58;  effect  of  on  operatives, 
59-66;  the  fool-proof,  69-71 

Mating,  literature  concerning,  49 

Motivation  in  the  factory,  75—80 

New  Zealand,  striking  progress  and  absence  of 
lawyers,  113;  legal  advice  in,  from  state-paid 
officials,  115 

Novels,  influence  of  the  cheap,  88 

Old  age,  economizing  for,  126,  127 

Operatives,  effect  on,  of  machinery,  59—66;  kept 
in  ignorance  of  profits,  75,  76 

Ownership,  exclusive,  of  property,  120—123;  com- 
mon, 121,  122;  and  social  viewpoint,  123-126 

Patriotism,  effect  of  a  ruinous,  136-138 

Peace,  teaching  of,  all  that  is  lacking  to  make  war 

impossible,  145 

People,  and  perfect  self-government,  10 
Physical  activity  and  political  sagacity,  44 
Pictures,  use  of,  and  response  to,   for  promoting 

social  progress,  93—96 
Political  progress  and  illiteracy,  45 
Precedent,  the  rule  of,  109-112 
Progress,  opposition  of  law  to,  110,  111 
Progress    affected    by    thought,    85-88;     attitude 

toward  taxes  an  obstacle  to,  129—132 
Property,  views  of,  120-135 
Public  affairs,  value  of  reports  on,  99-102 
Publicity,  need  of  effective,  38 

Reasoning  ability,  limits  of,  4-6 

Religion,  importance  of  newer  views  of,  52;    and 

motivation  in  industries,  76,  77 
Reports  on  public  affairs,  value  of  reports  on  to 

the  voter,  99-102 


Index  151 

Rockefeller  General  Education  Board,  its  contri- 
bution rejected  by  the  Senate,  3 

"  Rooting,"  representative  of  a  phase  of  American 
life,  46,  47 

Routine  employments  are  general,  66—68 

Sabotage,  what  it  results  from,  79 

Self-assertion,  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  others, 

135, 136 

Self-government  in  industry,  83,  84 
Self-respect,  necessity  of  the  assertion  of,  135 
Servile  emotions,  23—28 
Sex  interests  and  social  progress,  47—51 
Shock,  the  law  of,  28-35 
Slogan,  the,  useful  in  promoting  social  progress, 

96-98 

Social,  anti-,  states  of  mind,  138 
Social  concepts,  outworn,  and  the  rate  of  progress, 

90 

Social  inequality,  what  is  at  its  basis,  25,  26 
Social  inertia,  18-35 

Social  order  should  develop  intelligence,  70 
Social  problems,  their  complexity,  1—4 
Social  progress  and  experimental  legislation,  116— 

119 
Social  reforms  hindered  by  devotion  to  sports,  47; 

by  sex  over  interest,  47—5 1 ;  by  fashion,  5 1 
Social    sciences,    represent    the    type   of   learning 

needed,  112 

Social  viewpoint,  and  ownership,  123—126 
Society,  how  it  has  gone  forward,  2;    seeks  social 

ends,  2 

Solidarity  of  families  and  nations,  136 
Specialization    in    machine    work,    bad    and    good 

effects  of,  60-64 
Sports,  energy  given  to,  45—47 


152  Index 

Suffrage,  desirable  limitations  of  the,  105-108 
Suggestion,  the  control  of,  85—98 

Taxes,  attitude  toward,  129-132 

Tenant  farmers,  shiftless,  and  why,  81 

Thought-materials,  importance  to  progress,  85ff.,  89 

Thrift,  126-128 

Tradition,  hard  to  shake  off,  85-87,  89,  93 ;   legal, 

109ff. ;  preponderance  of  in  courts,  114;  judges 

should  not  be  fettered  by,  116 
Travel,  desire  to,  140-143 

Utilities,  right  view  regarding  social  purchase  of, 
129,  130 

Voter,  his  ignorance  of  essentials,  8;  his  need  of 
study,  9;  and  civic  publicity,  99—108;  the  un- 
informed, 102-104;  limited  ballot  for  the,  105 

War,  sanctified  by  false  arid  misleading  literature, 
88,  91;  the  instinctive  basis  of,  139-140;  the 
effects  of,  139,  140;  and  the  desire  to  travel, 
141;  results  of  for  women,  143;  a  better  form 
of,  143—145;  private  interests  and,  144;  and 
ignorance,  144 

Wastes,  what  kind  of,  should  receive  first  consid- 
eration, 73 

Wealth,  origin  of,  social,  131,  132;  making,  and 
moral  excellence,  134 

Woman  and  dress,  51,  52 

Work,  pleasure  in,  80-82 

Worker's  interests,  recognition  of  the,  73-75 

Youth,  the  spirit  of,  in  league  with  militarism,  143 


14  DAY  USE 

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